Table 1.
Summary of study characteristics
| Study characteristic | No. (%) of RCTs (N = 157) |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | |
| 1995–2000 | 10 (6.4) |
| 2001–2005 | 25 (15.9) |
| 2006–2010 | 33 (21.0) |
| 2011–2015 | 58 (36.9) |
| 2016–2020 | 31 (19.7) |
| Continent | |
| Europea | 69 (43.9) |
| Australia/New Zealand | 15 (9.6) |
| North America | 62 (39.5) |
| Asia | 9 (5.7) |
| South America | 1 (0.6) |
| Multi-continent | 1 (0.6) |
| Site | |
| Multi-center | 129 (82.2) |
| Single center | 24 (15.3) |
| Not reported | 4 (2.5) |
| Number of arms | |
| Two arms | 145 (92.4) |
| Three arms | 11 (7) |
| Four arms | 1 (0.6) |
| Settingsb | |
| Clinic | 61 (38.9) |
| Home | 59 (37.6) |
| Hospital | 5 (3.2) |
| Community | 5 (3.2) |
| Long-term care | 1 (0.6) |
| Not reportedc | 70 (44.6) |
| Not applicabled | 37 (23.6) |
| Sample size (no. of patients) | |
| 40–200 | 50 (31.8) |
| 201–500 | 49 (31.2) |
| 501–1000 | 16 (10.2) |
| 1001–2000 | 21 (13.4) |
| > 2000 | 19 (12.1) |
| Not involving patientse | 2 (1.3) |
| Sample size (no. of caregivers) | |
| 60–100 | 6 (3.8) |
| 101–300 | 9 (5.7) |
| > 300 | 5 (3.2) |
| Not involving caregivers | 137 (87.3) |
| Sample size (no. of providers) | |
| 9–100 | 17 (10.8) |
| 101–200 | 8 (5.1) |
| 201–900 | 8 (5.1) |
| Not involving providers | 124 (79) |
| Study duration with follow up | |
| 12–19 months | 14 (8.9) |
| 20–29 months | 23 (14.6) |
| 30–39 months | 43 (27.4) |
| 40–49 months | 25 (15.9) |
| > 50 months | 13 (8.3) |
| Not reported | 39 (24.8) |
| Funding | |
| Government | 84 (53.5) |
| Mixedf | 36 (22.9) |
| Commercial | 8 (5.1) |
| Research organization | 8 (5.1) |
| Voluntary organization | 5 (3.2) |
| Charitable trust | 4 (2.5) |
| Not reported | 12 (7.6) |
aThis includes multi-country studies that were all within Europe
bSettings refer to the place of delivery of KT interventions. The number of RCTs exceeds 283 and percent total more than 100% because many studies involved multiple settings. A clinic covers primary or specialty care, hospital covers acute care and community-based health care covers range of primary prevention (including public health) and primary care services within the community (e.g. health promotion and disease prevention, diagnosis/treatment/management of chronic and episodic diseases, rehabilitation support)
cNo reported setting for one or all study arms
dNot applicable refers to studies that have healthcare provider or caregiver KT intervention without a clinical component
eTwo studies involving healthcare providers only
fMixed refers to funding from both industry and governmental organizations/non-governmental organization/research/voluntary