Table 2.
Characteristics of 27 systematic reviews of integrated care
| Characteristic | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2005 (1997–2012) |
| Total no. of studies included (range per review) | 824 (4–112) |
| RCTsa | 480 (1–93) |
| Studies with concurrent control groupsa | 90 (1–27) |
| Before–after studiesa | 41 (2–8) |
| Ecological studiesa | 1 (0–1) |
| Other observational studiesa | 25 (1–6) |
| Review included meta-analysis | 18 (67%) |
| Methodological quality | |
| Median no. of AMSTAR items met (range) | 5 (0–10) |
| Disease areas | |
| CHF | 12 (44%) |
| DM | 7 (26%) |
| COPD | 7 (26%) |
| Asthma | 5 (19%) |
| Hypertension | 3 (11%) |
| Cancer | 2 (7%) |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 2 (7%) |
| Otherb | 5 (19%) |
| Principles of integration assessed | |
| Comprehensive services across the care continuum | 26 (96%) |
| Standardized care through inter-professional teams | 25 (93%) |
| Patient focus | 22 (81%) |
| Performance management | 17 (63%) |
| Physician integration | 15 (56%) |
| Information systems | 13 (48%) |
| Organizational culture and leadership | 5 (19%) |
| Geographic coverage and rostering | 1 (4%) |
| Governance structure | 1 (4%) |
| Financial management | 0 (0%) |
| Outcomes assessed | |
| Use of healthcare resources | 20 (74%) |
| Patient-centred | 16 (59%) |
| Functional | 16 (59%) |
| Costs | 15 (56%) |
| Process | 11 (41%) |
| Clinical | 10 (37%) |
AMSTAR, Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews instrument.
aTwenty-four reviews assessed the design of primary studies.
bStroke, orthopaedics, osteoarthritis, respiratory disease, angina, back pain and chronic pain, angina, hyperlipidaemia and coronary artery disease.