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BMJ Open logoLink to BMJ Open
. 2017 Oct 16;7(10):e016857. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016857

Health education for patients with acute coronary syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Xian-liang Liu 1,2,3, Yan Shi 1, Karen Willis 4, Chiung-Jung (Jo) Wu 5,6,7,8, Maree Johnson 9,10
PMCID: PMC5652525  PMID: 29042383

Abstract

Objectives

This umbrella review aimed to identify the current evidence on health education-related interventions for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM); identify the educational content, delivery methods, intensity, duration and setting required. The purpose was to provide recommendations for educational interventions for high-risk patients with both ACS and T2DM.

Design

Umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Setting

Inpatient and postdischarge settings.

Participants

Patients with ACS and T2DM.

Data sources

CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Institute, Journals@Ovid, EMBase, Medline, PubMed and Web of Science databases from January 2000 through May 2016.

Outcomes measures

Clinical outcomes (such as glycated haemoglobin), behavioural outcomes (such as smoking), psychosocial outcomes (such as anxiety) and medical service use.

Results

Fifty-one eligible reviews (15 for ACS and 36 for T2DM) consisting of 1324 relevant studies involving 2 88 057 patients (15 papers did not provide the total sample); 30 (58.8%) reviews were rated as high quality. Nurses only and multidisciplinary teams were the most frequent professionals to provide education, and most educational interventions were delivered postdischarge. Face-to-face sessions were the most common delivery formats, and many education sessions were also delivered by telephone or via web contact. The frequency of educational sessions was weekly or monthly, and an average of 3.7 topics was covered per education session. Psychoeducational interventions were generally effective at reducing smoking and admissions for patients with ACS. Culturally appropriate health education, self-management educational interventions, group medical visits and psychoeducational interventions were generally effective for patients with T2DM.

Conclusions

Results indicate that there is a body of current evidence about the efficacy of health education, its content and delivery methods for patients with ACS or T2DM. These results provide recommendations about the content for, and approach to, health education intervention for these high-risk patients.

Keywords: health education, acute coronary syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, umbrella review


Strengths and limitations of this study.

  • This umbrella review is the first synthesis of systematic reviews or meta-analyses to consider health education-related interventions for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

  • These results provide recommendations about the content of a health education intervention for patients with ACS and T2DM.

  • The diversity of the educational interventions seen in the reviews included in this umbrella review may reflect the uncertainty about the optimal strategy for providing health education to patients.

  • This umbrella review found no reviews focused on patients with ACS and T2DM—the intended target group; instead, all of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses focused on only one of these two diseases.

Introduction

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the leading cause of death worldwide. The risk of high mortality rates relating to ACS is markedly increased after an initial cardiac ischaemic event.1 Globally, 7.2 million (13%) deaths are caused by coronary artery disease (CAD),2 and it is estimated that >7 80 000 persons will experience ACS each year in the USA.3 Moreover, about 20%–25% of patients with ACS reportedly also have diabetes mellitus (DM); predominantly type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM)).4 5 Patients with ACS and DM have an increased risk of adverse outcomes such as death, recurrent myocardial infarction (MI), readmission or heart failure during follow-up.6 Longer median delay times from symptom onset to hospital presentation, have been reported among patients with ACS and DM than patients with ACS alone.7

DM is now considered to confer a risk equivalent to that of CAD for patients for future MI and cardiovascular mortality.8 Mortality was significantly higher among patients with ACS and DM than among patients with ACS only following either ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) (8.5% (ACS and DM) vs 5.4% (ACS)) or unstable angina/non-STEMI (NSTEMI) (2.1% (ACS and DM) vs 1.1% (ACS)).9 ACS and T2DM are often associated with high-risk factors such as low levels of physical exercise, obesity, smoking and unhealthy diet.10 Some of these and other risk factors, specifically glycaemia, high blood pressure (BP), lipidaemia and obesity, are frequently addressed by health education interventions.10

Health education interventions are comprehensive programmes that healthcare providers deliver to patients aimed at improving patients’ clinical outcomes through the increase and maintenance of health behaviours.11 Along with education about, for example, medication taking, these programmes seek to increase behaviours such as physical exercise and a healthy diet thus reducing patient morbidity or mortality.11 Most diabetes education is provided through programmes within outpatient services or physicians’ practices.12 Many recent education programmes have been designed to meet national or international education standards13–15 with diabetes education being individualised to consider patients’ existing needs and health conditions.16 Patients with T2DM have reported feelings of hopelessness and fatigue with low levels of self-efficacy, after experiencing an acute coronary episode.17

Although there are numerous systematic reviews of educational interventions relating to ACS or T2DM, an umbrella review providing direction on educational interventions for high-risk patients with both ACS and T2DM is not available, indicating a need to gather the current evidence and develop an optimal protocol for health education programmes for patients with ACS and T2DM. This umbrella review will examine the best available evidence on health education-related interventions for patients with ACS or T2DM. We will synthesise these findings to provide direction for health education-related interventions for high-risk patients with both ACS and T2DM.

An umbrella review is a new method to summarise and synthesise the evidence from multiple systematic reviews/meta-analyses into one accessible publication.18 Our aim is to systematically gather, evaluate and organise the current evidence relating the health education interventions for patients with ACS or T2DM, and proffer recommendations for the scope of educational content and delivery methods that would be suitable for patients with ACS and T2DM.

Methods

Data sources

This umbrella review performed a literature search to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining health education-related interventions for patients with ACS or T2DM. The search strategies are described in online supplementary appendix 1. This umbrella review searched eight databases for articles published from January 2000 to May 2016: CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Institute, Journals@Ovid, EMBase, Medline, PubMed and Web of Science. The search was limited to English language only. The following broad MeSH terms were used: acute coronary syndrome; angina, unstable; angina pectoris; coronary artery disease; coronary artery bypass; myocardial infarction; diabetes mellitus, type two; counseling; health education; patient education as topic; meta-analysis (publication type); and meta-analysis as a topic.

Supplementary appendix 1

bmjopen-2017-016857supp001.pdf (5.1MB, pdf)

Inclusion criteria

Participants

All participants were diagnosed with ACS or T2DM using valid, established diagnostic criteria. The diagnostic standards included those described by the American College of Cardiology or American Heart Association,3 National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand,19 WHO20 or other associations.

Intervention types

For this umbrella review, health education-related interventions refer to any planned activities or programmes that include behaviour modification, counselling and teaching interventions. Results considered for this review included changes in clinical outcomes (including BP levels, body weight, diabetes complications, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), lipid levels, mortality rate and physical activity levels), behavioural outcomes (such as diet, knowledge, self-management skills, self-efficacy and smoking), psychosocial outcomes (such as anxiety, depression, quality of life and stress) and medical service use (such as medication use, healthcare utilisation and cost-effectiveness) for patients with ACS or T2DM. These activities or programmes included any educational interventions delivered to patients with ACS or T2DM. The interventions are delivered in any format, including face-to-face, telephone and group-based or one-on-one, and the settings include community, hospital and home. The interventions were delivered by nurses (including diabetes nurse educators), physicians, community healthcare workers, dietitians, lay people, rehabilitation therapists or multidisciplinary teams.

Study types

Only systematic reviews and meta-analyses were included in this review.

Eligibility assessment

The title and abstract of all of the retrieved articles were assessed independently by two reviewers (XL-L, YS) based on the inclusion criteria. All duplicate articles were identified within EndNote V.X721 and subsequently excluded. If the information from the titles and abstract was not clear, the full articles were retrieved. The decision to include an article was based on an appraisal of the full text of all retrieved articles. Any disagreements during this process were settled by discussion and, if necessary, consensus was sought with a third reviewer. We developed an assessment form in which specific reasons for exclusion were detailed.

Assessment of methodological quality

The methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed for each of the included publications using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR),22 independently by the same two reviewers (see table 1). The AMSTAR is an 11-item tool, with each item provided a score of 1 (specific criterion is met) or 0 (specific criterion is not met, unclear or not applicable).22 23 An overall score for the review methodological quality is then calculated as the sum of the individual item scores: high quality, 8–11; medium quality, 4–7 or low quality, 0–3.23 If the required data were not available in the article, the original authors were contacted for more information. The low quality reviews (AMSTAR scale: 0–3) were excluded in this umbrella review.

Table 1.

Methodological quality assessment of included systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Systematic review/
meta-analysis
Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5 Item 6 Item 7 Item 8 Item 9 Item 10 Item 11 Total score
Systematic reviews and meta-analysis involved patients with ACS
1 Barth et al69 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 11
2 Devi et al44 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes NA Yes 10
3 Ghisi et al50 CA Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 7
4 Kotb et al59 CA Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 8
5 Brown et al37 Yes No Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes NA Yes 7
6 Dickens et al45 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
7 Aldcroft et al31 CA No Yes CA NO Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 6
8 Brown et al70 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes NA Yes 10
9 Huttunen-Lenz et al56 CA No Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 5
10 Goulding et al51 Yes Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 8
11 Auer et al34 CA Yes Yes CA No No Yes No Yes Yes No 5
12 Barth et al36 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 10
13 Fernandez et al48 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 8
14 Barth et al35 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes CA Yes Yes Yes Yes 7
15 Clark et al41 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
Systematic reviews and meta-analysis involved patients with T2DM
16 Choi et al40 CA Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
17 Creamer et al42 Yes Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 8
18 Huang et al55 CA CA Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 7
19 Chen et al39 CA CA Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 7
20 Pillay et al71 Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 9
21 Terranova et al72 CA CA Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
22 Attridge et al33 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 10
23 Odnoletkova et al66 Yes CA Yes CA No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No 6
24 Pal et al67 CA Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 8
25 Ricci-Cabello et al73 Yes CA Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 9
26 Saffari et al74 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
27 Gucciardi et al52 CA Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 7
28 Pal et al68 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 10
29 van Vugt et al75 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes NA No Yes 6
30 Amaeshi32 CA CA Yes No No Yes Yes Yes NA No No 4
31 Nam et al62 CA CA Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
32 Steinsbekk et al76 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 7
33 Burke et al38 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes NA Yes 10
34 Lun Gan et al57 Yes Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 8
35 Ramadas et al77 CA CA Yes No No Yes Yes Yes NA No Yes 5
36 Hawthorne et al54 Yes Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes CA Yes 8
37 Minet et al61 Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 9
38 Alam et al30 Yes Yes No CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 8
39 Duke et al46 Yes CA Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 8
40 Fan and Sidani47 Yes No Yes CA No Yes No No Yes No Yes 5
41 Hawthorne et al53 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 11
42 Khunti et al58 CA Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No Yes 5
43 Loveman et al60 Yes CA Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 8
44 Wens et al78 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes Yes NA Yes 7
45 Nield et al63 Yes Yes Yes CA Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 9
46 Zabaleta and Forbes79 CA CA Yes CA Yes Yes Yes Yes NA No No 5
47 Deakin et al43 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 11
48 Vermeire et al80 Yes Yes Yes CA Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 9
49 Gary et al49 CA Yes No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes 6
50 Norris et al65 CA No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes CA No No 4
51 Norris et al64 CA Yes Yes CA No Yes Yes Yes NA No No 5

Item 1: ‘Was an "a priori" design provided?’,Source:Shea et al22; Item 2: ‘Was there duplicate study selection and data extraction?’; Item 3: ‘Was a comprehensive literature search performed?’; Item 4: ‘Was the status of publication (ie, grey literature) used as an inclusion criterion?’; Item 5: ‘Was a list of studies (included and excluded) provided?’; Item 6: ‘Were the characteristics of the included studies provided?’; Item 7: ‘Was the scientific quality of the included studies assessed and documented?’; Item 8: ‘Was the scientific quality of the included studies used appropriately in formulating conclusions?’; Item 9: ‘Were the methods used to combine the findings of studies appropriate?’; Item 10: ‘Was the likelihood of publication bias assessed?’; Item 11: ‘Was the conflict of interest stated?’

CA, cannot answer; NA, not applicable.

Data extraction

Data were independently extracted by two reviewers using a predefined data extraction form. For missing or unclear information, the primary authors were contacted for clarification.

Statistical presentation of results from reviews

All of the results were extracted for each included systematic review or meta-analysis, and the overall effect estimates are presented in a tabular form. The number of systematic reviews or meta-analyses that reported the outcome, total sample (from included publications) and information of health education interventions is also presented in tables 2 and 3.24 A final ‘summary of evidence’ was developed to present the intervention, included study synthesis, and indication of the findings from the included papers (table 4).24 This umbrella review calculated the corrected covered area (CCA) (see online supplementary appendices 2 and 3). The CCA statistic is a measure of overlap of trials (the repeated inclusion of the same trial in subsequent systematic reviews included in an umbrella systematic review). A detailed description of the calculation is provided by the authors who note slight CCA as 0%–5%, moderate CCA as 6%–10%, high CCA as 11%–15% and very high CCA is >15%.25 The lower the CCA the lower the likelihood of overlap of trials included in the umbrella review.

Table 2.

Characteristics and interventions of included systematic reviews and meta-analysis involved patients with ACS

First author, year; journal Primary objectives
(to assess effect of interventions on….)
Studies details Intervention Outcomes
(primary outcomes were in bold)
‘−': No change
↑': Increase
↓': Decrease
Synthesis methods
Educational content Provider Number of session(s), delivery mode, time, setting
Devi, 201544; The Cochrane Library Lifestyle changes and medicines management Number of studies: 11 completed trials (12 publications);
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1392 participants
All internet-based interventions BEHA (-)
CVR (-)
DIET (-)
EXERCISE (-)
□ MED
PSY(-)
SMOKING (-)
□ SELF
Dietitians; exercise specialists; nurse practitioners; physiotherapist rehabilitation specialists, or did not describe. Number of session: weekly or monthly or unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear.
Duration: from 6 weeks to 1 year
Strategies: internet-based and mobile phone-based intervention, such as email access, private-messaging function on the website, one-to-one chat facility, a synchronised group chat, an online discussion forum, or telephone consultations; or video files;
Format: one-on-one chat sessions; ‘ask an expert’ group chat sessions;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other − Clinical outcomes; − Cardiovascular risk factors;
Lifestyle changes;
Compliance with medication;
Healthcare utilisation and costs;
Adverse intervention effects
Meta-analysis used Review Manager software
Barth, 201569; The Cochrane Library Smoking cessation Number of studies:40 RCTs;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 7928 participants
Psychosocial smoking cessation interventions □ BEHA
□ CVR
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
□ PSY
SMOKING
□ SELF
Cardiologist; general practitioner physician or study nurse Number of session: weekly or 2–3 times per week;
Total contact hours: unclear.
Duration: from 8 weeks to 1 year
Strategies: face-to-face, telephone contact, written educational materials, videotape, booklet or unclear;
Format: one by one counselling; telephone call; group meetings or unclear;
Theoretical approach: TTM, SCT
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↑ Abstinence by self-report or validated Meta- analysis used Review Manager software
Kotb, 201459; PLoS One Patients’ outcomes Number of studies: 26 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 4081 participants
Telephone-delivered postdischarge interventions □ BEHA
CVR
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Dietitians; exercise specialist; health educators; nurses and pharmacists Number of session: 3–6 sessions/telephone calls and was greater than six calls in five studies; or unclear;
Total contact hours: 40 –180 mins or unclear;
Duration: 1.5–6 months or unclear
Strategies: telephone calls;
Format: unclear, did not describe the format;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe the setting ↓ All-cause hospitalisation;
− All-cause mortality;
Depression;
Anxiety;
Smoking cessation,
Systolic blood pressure;
LDL-c
Meta- analysis used Review Manager software
Ghisi, 201450; Patient Education and Counseling Knowledge, health behaviour change, medication adherence, psychosocial well-being Number of studies: 42 articles;
Types of studies: 30 were experimental: 23 RCTs and 7 quasi-experimental; and 11 observational and 1 used a mixed-methods design.
Total sample: 16 079 participants
Any educational interventions BEHA (+)
CVR (++)
DIET (+++)
EXERCISE (++)
MED (++)
PSY(++)
SMOKING (+)
□ SELF
Nurses (35.7%), a multidisciplinary team (31%), dietitians (14.3%) and a cardiologist (2.4%) Number of session: 1–24 or unclear.
Total contact hours: 5–10 min to 3 hours as well as a full day of education
Duration: 1–24 month; from daily education to every 6 months
Strategies: did not describe the strategies;
Format: group (88.1%) education was delivered by lectures (40.5%), group discussions (40.5%) and question and answer periods (7.1%). Individual education (88.1%), including individual counselling (50%), follow-up telephone contacts (31%) and home visits (7.1%);
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings − Knowledge;
− Behaviour;
− Psychosocial indicators
Narrative synthesis
Brown, 201337; European Journal of Preventive Cardiology Mortality, morbidity, HRQoL and healthcare costs Number of studies: 24 papers reporting on 13 RCTs;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 68 556 participants
Patient education □ BEHA
CVR
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Nurses or other healthcare professionals. Number of session and duration: from a total of 2 visits to a 4 -week residential stay reinforced with 11 months of nurse led follow-up
Total contact hours: unclear
Strategies: face-to-face education sessions, telephone contact and interactive use of the internet;
Format: group-based sessions, individualised education and four used a mixture of both sessions;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, other − Mortality,
− Non-fatal MI,
− Revascularisations,
− Hospitalisations,
− HRQoL,
Withdrawals/dropouts;
Healthcare utilisation and costs
Meta- analysis used Review Manager software
Dickens, 201345; Psychosomatic Medicine Depression
and depressive symptoms
Number of studies: 62 independent studies
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 17 397
Psychological interventions BEHA (-)
□ CVR
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
A single health professional or by a unidisciplinary team Number of session: 14.4 (range, 1–156);
Total contact hours: varying from 10 to 240 min
Duration: unclear
Strategies: face-to-face sessions, telephone contact or unclear;
Format: group or unclear;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe ↓ Depression;
Adverse cardiac outcomes;
Ongoing cardiac symptoms
Univariate analyses using comprehensive meta-analysis, multivariate meta-regression using SPSS V.15.0
Aldcroft, 201120; Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation & Prevention Health behaviour change Number of studies: seven trials
Types of studies: six randomised controlled trials and a quasi-experimental trial
Total sample: 536 participants
All psychoeducational or behavioural intervention □ BEHA
CVR (-)
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Appropriately trained healthcare workers Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 2–12 months
Strategies: did not describe the strategies;
Format: group setting, combination of group and one-on-one education and one-on-one format only;
Theoretical approach: TTM, interactionist role theory, Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, Gordon’s relapse prevention model and a cognitive behavioural approach
Unclear, did not describe ↓ Smoking rates; medication use;
− Supplemental oxygen use;
↑ Physical activity;
Nutritional habits
Meta-analysis and narrative presentation
Brown, 201170; The Cochrane Library Mortality, morbidity, HRQoL and healthcare costs Number of studies: 24 papers reporting on 13 studies.
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 68 556 participants
Patient education BEHA (-)
CVR (-)
□ DIET
EXERCISE (-)
MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Nurse or did not describe Number of session and duration: two
visits to 4 weeks residential
11 months of nurse led follow-up
Total contact hours: unclear
Strategies: face-to-face sessions, telephone contact and interactive use of the internet;
Format: four studies involved group sessions, five involved individualised education and three used both session types, with one study comparing the two approaches;
Theoretical approach: did not describe
Postdischarge, other − Total mortality;
− Cardiovascular
− mortality;
− Non-cardiovascular mortality;
− Total cardiovascular (CV) events;
− Fatal and/or non-fatal MI;
Other fatal and/or non-fatal CV events
Meta-analysis used Review Manager software
Goulding, 201051; Journal of Advanced Nursing Change maladaptive illness Number of studies: 13 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Interventions to change maladaptive illness beliefs BEHA (-)
□ CVR
DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Cardiologist, nurse, psychologist or did not describe. Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 4 days to 2 weeks or unclear
Strategies: face-to-face sessions, telephone contact and written self-administered;
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: Common Sense Model, Leventhal’s framework
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other − Beliefs (or other illness cognition);
QoL;
Behaviour;
Anxiety or depression;
Psychological well-being;
Modifiable risk factors; protective factors
A descriptive data synthesis
Huttunen-Lenz, 201056; British Journal of Health Psychology Smoking cessation Number of studies: a total of 14 studies were included
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1792 participants
Psychoeducational cardiac rehabilitation intervention □ BEHA
□ CVR
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
□ PSY
SMOKING (-)
□ SELF
Cardiologist, nurse psychologist or did not describe Number of session: 4–20 or unclear.
Total contact hours: 10–720 mins or unclear
Duration: 4–29 weeks or unclear
Strategies: face-to-face counselling, self-help materials; home visit, booklet, video and telephone contact
Format: individual or unclear
Theoretical approach: social learning theory; ASE model; TTM; behavioural multicomponent approach
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↑ Prevalent smoking cessation,
↑ Continuous smoking cessation,
Mortality
Subgroup meta-analysis was used software
Auer, 200834; Circulation Multiple cardiovascular risk factors and all-cause mortality Number of studies: 27 articles reporting 26 studies
Types of studies: 16 clinical controlled trials and 10 before-after studies
Total sample: 2467 patients in CCTs and 38, 581 patients in before-after studies
In-hospital multidimensional interventions of secondary prevention □ BEHA
□ CVR
DIET (-)
EXERCISE (-)
MED
PSY (-)
SMOKING (-)
□ SELF
Cardiac nurses; physician, or did not describe Number of session: 1–5 or unclear;
Total contact hours: 30–240 mins or unclear;
Duration: 4 weeks–12 months
Strategies: Written material; audiotapes; presentations; face-to-face;
Format: group or unclear;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings ↓ All-cause mortality;
↓ Readmission rates;
− Reinfarction rates
Stata V.9.1
Barth, 200836;
The Cochrane Library
Smoking cessation Number of studies: 40 trials;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 7682 patients
Psychosocial intervention BEHA (+++)
CVR (++)
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
PSY (+)
SMOKING (+++)
SELF(+++)
Cardiologist, nurse, physician or study nurse Number of session: 1–5 or unclear;
Total contact hours: 15 mins–9 hours
Duration: within 4 weeks or did not report on the duration
Strategies: face-to-face; information booklets, audiotapes or videotapes
Format: group sessions or individual counselling;
Theoretical approach: TTM
Inpatient settings ↑ Abstinence by self-report or validated Meta-analysis used Review Manager software
Fernandez, 200748; International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare Risk factor modification Number of studies: 17 trials;
Types of studies: randomised, quasi-RCTs and clustered trials;
Total sample: 4725 participants
Brief structured intervention BEHA (-)
CVR (-)
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Case manager; dieticians; health educator; nurses; psychologist; and research assistants Number of session: supportive counselling ranged from 1 to 7 calls for the duration of the study;
Total contact hours: varied from 10 to 30 mins;
Duration: unclear
Strategies: written, visual, audio, telephone contact;
Format: did not describe;
Theoretical approach: theoretical behaviour change principles
Unclear, did not describe ↓ Smoking;
− Cholesterol level;
− Physical activity;
↑ Dietary habits;
↓ Blood sugar levels;
− BP levels;
↓ BMI;
Incidence of admission
Cochrane statistical package Review Manager
Barth, 200635; Annals of Behavioural Medicine Smoking cessation Number of studies: 19 trials;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 2548 patients
Psychosocial interventions BEHA (+++)
CVR (++)
□ DIET
□ EXERCISE
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (+++)
Unclear, did not describe Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: unclear
Strategies: face-to-face, telephone contact or unclear;
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe ↑ Abstinence;
↓ Smoking status
Data analyses were carried out in Review Manager V.4.2
Clark, 200541; Annals of Internal Medicine Mortality, MI Number of studies: 63 randomised trials;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 21 295 patients
Secondary prevention programmes □ BEHA
□ CVR
DIET (-)
EXERCISE (-)
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Nurse, multidisciplinary team or did not describe Number of session: 1–12 or unclear
Total contact hours: did not describe
Duration: 0.75–48 months
Strategies: face-to-face, telephone contact and home visit;
Format: group and individual or unclear;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓ Mortality,
↓ MI,
Hospitalisation rates
Performed analyses by using Review Manager V.4.2 and Qualitative Data Synthesis

Smoking, smoking cessation; CVR, cardiovascular risk factors; PSY, psychosocial issues (depression, anxiety); DIET, diet; EXERCISE, exercise; MED, medication; BEHA, behavioural charge (including lifestyle modification); SELF, self-management (including problems solving); DR, diabetes risks; CHD, coronary heart disease; CAD, coronary artery disease; CHW, community health worker; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin; BP, blood pressure; LDL, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; SMS, short message service; BCTs, behavioural change techniques; LEA, lower extremity amputation; PRIDE, Problem Identification, Researching one’s routine, Identifying a management goal, Developing a plan to reach it, Expressing one’s reactions and Establishing rewards for making progress; ASE, attitude social influence-efficacy; CVRF, cardiovascular risk factors; PA, physical activity; EDU, patient education; GP, general practice; RCTs, randomised controlled trials; CCTS, controlled clinical trials; HRQoL, health-related quality of life; QoL, quality of life; MI, myocardial infarction; CAD, coronary artery disease; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft surgery; BMI, body mass index; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HDL-c, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; TTM, transtheoretical model; SCT, social cognitive theory; HBM, health belief model; SAT, social action theory.

In the educational content: ‘+’: minor focus; ‘++’:moderate focus; ‘+++’ major focus; ‘- ’=unclear what the intensity of the education was for any topic.

In the outcomes: arrow up (‘↑’) for improvement, arrow down (‘↓’) for reduction; a dash (‘−’) for no change or inconclusive evidence. Primary outcomes were in bold.

Table 3.

Characteristics and interventions of included systematic reviews and meta-analysis involved patients with T2DM

First author, year; journal Primary objectives
(to assess effect of interventions on….)
Studies details Intervention Outcomes
(primary outcomes were in bold.)
‘−': No change
↑': Increase
↓': Decrease
Synthesis methods
Educational content Provider Number of session(s), delivery mode, time, setting
Choi, 201640; Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice Glycaemic effect Number of studies: 53 studies (5 in English, 48 in Chinese);
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Diabetes education intervention □ BEHA
DIET (-)
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Unclear, did not describe Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 30–150 min or unclear
Strategies: face-to-face, written materials; telephone contact and home visit;
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, post discharge, other ↓ HbA1cSTATA V.12 and Review Manager V.5.3
Creamer, 201642; Diabetic Medicine Successful outcomes and to suggest directions for future research Number of studies: 33;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 7453 participants
Culturally appropriate health education BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
DR (-)
EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
CHWs, clinical pharmacists dieticians, nurses, podiatrists, physiotherapists and psychologists Number of session: 1–10 or unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: from a single session to 24 months
Strategies: face-to-face; phone contact;
Format: group sessions (10 studies), individual sessions (13) or a combination of both;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓ HbA1c,
− HRQoL,
− Adverse events,
− BP,
− BMI,
− Lipid levels,
− Diabetes complications,
Economic analyses, mortality and diabetes knowledge,
Empowerment,
Self-efficacy and satisfaction
Meta-analysis using the Review Manager statistical programme
Huang, 201655; European Journal of Internal Medicine Clinical markers of cardiovascular disease Number of studies: 17 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Lifestyle interventions □ BEHA
DIET (-)
CVR (-)
EXERCISE (-)
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Nurse, pharmacist or unclear Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 6 months–8 years
Strategies: unclear;
Format: individual; group and mixed
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe Cardiovascular risk factors such as,
BMI,
HbA1c,
BP,
Level of cholesterol
Review Manager V.5.1
Chen, 201539; Metabolism-Clinical and Experimental Clinical markers Number of studies: 16 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: per study ranged from 23 to 2575
Lifestyle intervention BEHA (-)
□ DIET
CVR (-)
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Unclear, did not describe Number of session: monthly;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: <6 months−8 years
Strategies: unclear;
Format: individual; group and mixed;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe Cardiovascular risk factors including
BMI,
HbA1c,
SBP, DBP,
HDL-c and LDL-c
All analyses were performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis statistical software
Terranova, 201572;
Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism
Weight loss Number of studies: 10 individual studies (from 13 papers);
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: ranging from 27 to 5145 participants
Lifestyle-based-only intervention BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR (-)
EXERCISE (-)
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Dietician; diabetes educator; general physician; multidisciplinary team or nutritionist; nurse Number of session: 1–42;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: ranged from 16 weeks to 9 years
Strategies and format: face-to-face individual or group-based sessions, or a combination of those. One study delivered the intervention via the telephone
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe ↓ Weight change;
− HbA1c
Meta-analyses—Review Manager and meta-regression analysis—Stata version.
Pillay, 201571; Annals of Internal Medicine HbAIc level Number of studies: 132;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Behavioural programme BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Trained individuals Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: range, 7–40.5 hours;
Duration: 4 or more weeks
Strategies: unclear;
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, post discharge, other − HbA1c;
↓ BMI
The analysis was conducted by using a Bayesian network model
Pal, 201467; Diabetes Care Health status, cardiovascular risk factors and QoL Number of studies: 20 papers describing 16 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 3578 participants
Computer-based self-management interventions □ BEHA
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF
Unclear, did not describe Number of session: 1–8;
Total contact hours: 10 min– 6 hours;
Duration: 8 weeks–12 months
Strategies: online/web-based; Phone contact
Format: individual; group and mixed
Theoretical approach: TTM, social ecological theory, SCT and self-determination theory
Unclear, did not describe − HRQoL,
↓HbA1c,
− Death;
↓Cognitions, behaviours,
−Social support,
↓Cardiovascular risk factors,
Complications,
Emotional outcomes,
Hypoglycaemia,
Adverse effects,
CE and economic data
Meta-analysis using Review Manager software or narrative presentation
Ricci-Cabello, 201473; BMC Endocrine Disorders Knowledge, behaviours and clinical outcomes Number of studies: 37 studies;
Types of studies: almost two-thirds of the studies were RCTs, 27% studies were quasi-experimental design.
Total sample: unclear
DSM educational programme □ BEHA
DIET(+++)
□ DR
EXERCISE (+++)
GC(+++)
MED(++)
PSY(++)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Dietitian; nurse; psychologist; physician; research team or staff Number of session: 13.1;
Total contact hours: 0.25–180 hours;
Duration: 0.25–48 months
Strategies: face-to-face; telecommunication; both
Format: one on one; group and mixed
Theoretical approach: unclear
Postdischarge, other −Diabetes knowledge;
−Self-management;
−Behaviours;
−Clinical outcomes; ↓Glycated haemoglobin;
Cost-effectiveness analysis
Meta-analyses and bivariate meta-regression were conducted with Stata V.12.0
Saffari, 201474; Primary Care Diabetes Glycaemic control. Number of studies: 10;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 960 patients
An educational intervention using SMS BEHA (-)
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
GC (-)
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Unclear, did not describe Number of session: weekly; or two messages daily or unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear.
Duration: 3 months–1 year
Strategies: SMS: sending and receiving data. Receive data through text-messaging by patients only. Used a website along with SMS;
Format: Unclear;
Theoretical approach: Unclear.
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↑Glycaemic control Comprehensive Meta-analysis Software V.2.0
Odnoletkova, 201466; Journal of Diabetes & Metabolism Cost-effectiveness (CE) Number of studies: 17 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Therapeutic education BEHA (-)
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
General physician; nutritionists or unclear Number of session: ~16;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: unclear
Strategies: face-to-face or unclear;
Format: individual and group lessons;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inhospital or unclear −CE Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio
Attridge, 201433; The Cochrane Library HbAIc level, knowledge and clinical outcomes Number of studies: 33 trials;
Types of studies: RCTs and quasi-RCTs;
Total sample: 7453 participants
’Culturally appropriate' health education BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
□ MED
□ PSY
SMOKING (-)
□ SELF
CHWs; dieticians; exercise physiologists; lay workers; nurses; podiatrists and psychologists Number of session: one session to 24 months;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: the median duration of interventions was 6 months
Strategies:
Format: group intervention method, one-to-one sessions and a mixture of the two methods. Or a purely interactive patient-centred method
Theoretical approach: empowerment theories; behaviour change theories, TTM of behaviour change and SCT
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓HbA1c;
−HRQoL;
−Adverse events;
Mortality;
Complications; Satisfaction; Empowerment;
Self-efficacy;
Attitude; knowledge;
BP;
BMI;
Lipid levels;
Health economics
Meta-analyses used Review Manager software
Vugt, 201375; Journal of Medical Internet Research Health outcomes Number of studies: 13 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 3813 patients
BCTs are being used in online self-management interventions BEHA (-)
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Healthcare professional Number of session: 6 weekly sessions or unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: unclear
Strategies: online/web-based;
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: self-efficacy theory, social support theory, TTM, SCT, social-ecological model and cognitive behavioural therapy
Postdischarge −Health behaviour change;
−Psychological well-being;
Clinical parameters
Unclear
Gucciardi, 201352; Patient Education and Counseling HbAIc level,physical activity and diet outcomes Number of studies: 13 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs and comparative studies;
Total sample: unclear
DSME interventions. □ BEHA
DIET (+++);
□ DR
EXERCISE (+++);
□ GC
MED (+);
PSY (+)
□ SMOKING
SELF (++)
Dietitians (n=7/13); Multidisciplinary team (n=7/13); Nurse (n=5/13);
Community peer worker (n=3/13)
Number of session: low intensity: <10 education sessions (n=7); high intensity: ≥10 education sessions (n=6);
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: <6 months (n=7/13); ≥6 months (n=6/13)
Strategies: face-to-face (n=13/13); written literature: (eg, handbook) (n=4/13); telephone (n=4/13); audiovisual (n=1/13)
Format: one-on-one: (n=11/13); group (n=9/13)
Theoretical approach: SAT; empowerment Behaviour change model; modification theories; pharmaceutical care model; Behaviour change theory; PATHWAYS programme; symptom- focused management model; motivational interviewing
Inpatient settings, postdischarge − HbA1c levels,
Anthropometrics,
Physical activity;
Diet outcomes
A recently described method
Pal, 201368; The Cochrane Library Health status and HRQoL Number of studies: 16 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 3578 participants
Computer-based diabetes self-management intervention □ BEHA
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
MED (-)
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Nurse or other healthcare professionals Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 1 session– 18 months
Strategies: online/web-based; phone contact
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other − HRQoL;
− Death from any cause;
↓HbA1c;
Cognitions;
Behaviours;
Social support;
Biological markers;
Complications
Formal meta-analyses and narrative synthesis
Nam, 201262; Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing Glycaemic control Number of studies: 12 RCTs;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1495 participants
Diabetes educational interventions (no drug intervention) □ BEHA
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
MED (-)
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Nurses (36%), dieticians (36%), diabetes educators (5%), other professionals (9%) and non-professional staff (14%) Number of session: 1 month or less; 1–3 months and 12 months;
Total contact hours: most studies did not describe, or from 1 session to more than 30 hours;
Duration: from 1 session to 12 months, frequency: 1 session to 25 weekly or biweekly education
Strategies: teaching or counselling; home-based support and visual aids
Format: group education or a combination of group education and individual counselling; or only individual counselling;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓HbA1c level Meta-analysis
Steinsbekk, 201276; BMC Health Services Research Clinical, lifestyle and psychosocial outcomes Number of studies: 21 studies (26 publications)
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 2833 participants
Group-based education Did not describe the content of the intervention Community workers; dietician; lay health advisors nurse and nutritionist Number of session and total contact hours: 30 hours over 2.5 months, 52 hours over 1 year and 36 or 96 hours over 6 months
Duration: 6 months to 2 years
Strategies: face-to-face;
Format: 5 to 8 participants group to 40 patients group
Theoretical approach: empowerment model and the discovery learning theory, the SCT and the social ecological theory, the self-efficacy and self-management theories and operant reinforcement theory
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓HbA1c,
↑Lifestyle outcomes, ↑Diabetes knowledge,
Self-management skills,
Psychosocial outcomes,
Mortality rate,
BMI,
Blood pressure;
Lipid profile
Meta-analysis using Review Manager V.5
Amaeshi, 201232; Podiatry Now Increasing good foot health practices that will ultimately reduce LEA Number of studies: eight studies;
Types of studies: RCT or clinical controlled trial (CCT);
Total sample: unclear
Foot health education Food care Podiatrist, psychologist or unclear Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: between 15 min and 14 hours;
Duration: 3–30 months
Strategies: face- to-face;
Format: in three of the studies, educational interventions were delivered to the participants in groups, while the other five provided individualised (one-to-one) foot care education to the participants;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe ↓ LEA;
Self-care
Narrative synthesis
Lun Gan, 201157;
JBI Library of Systematic Reviews
Oral hypoglycaemic adherence Number of studies: seven studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Educational interventions BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
MED (-)
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Nurses; pharmacists; other skilled healthcare professionals Number of session: 1–12 or unclear;
Total contact hours: 2.5 hours or unclear;
Duration: 4–12 months
Strategies: face- to-face;
Format: group and individual;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓ HbA1c,
− Medication adherence;
↓Blood glucose;
Tablet count;
Medication containers;
Diabetes complications;
Health service utilisation
Narrative summary form
Burke, 201138; JBI Database of Systematic Reviews and Implementation Reports HbAIc level,BP Number of studies: 11 RCTs and 4 quasi-experimental trials;
Types of studies: RCTs and quasi-experimental trials;
Total sample: 2240 patients
Group medical visits BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
GC (-)
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Endocrinologists; DM nurse; family physician; nutritionist and rehab therapist Number of session: 1–4 or unclear;
Total contact hours: 2–4 hours or unclear;
Duration: 1 session to 2 years
Strategies: face-to-face;
Format: group and individual;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓HbA1c;
−Systolic and diastolic BP;
LDL measurements
Meta-analysis
Ramadas, 201177; International Journal of Medical Informatics HbAIc level Number of studies: 13 different studies;
Types of studies: RCTs and quasi-experimental studies;
Total sample: unclear
Web-based behavioural interventions BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
GC (-)
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Dietician; endocrinologist; physicians; researchers or research staff members and study nurse Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: ranged between 12 and 52 weeks, with an average of 27.2±18.3 weeks
Strategies: email and SMS technologies that were commonly used together with the websites to reinforce the intervention, and website, print material
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: Wagner’s Chronic Care Model; self-efficacy theory/social support theory; TTM; HBM; SCT
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other − Self-monitoring blood sugar,
Weight loss,
Dietary behaviour,
Physical activity
Not statistically combined and re-analysed
Minet, 201061; Patient Education and Counseling Glycaemic control Number of studies: 47 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Self-care management interventions BEHA (-)
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Case nurse manager; group facilitator; nurse educator; multidisciplinary team; physiologist; physician; peer counsellor; researcher and pharmacist Number of session: 3–26;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 4 weeks to 4 years
Strategies: face-to-face; home visit; phone calls;
Format: group and individual;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓ HbA1c Meta-analyses and meta-regression used Stata’s meta command
Hawthorne, 201054; Diabetic Medicine Effects of culturally appropriate health education Number of studies: 10 trials;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1603 patients
Culturally appropriate health education □ BEHA
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Exercise physiologists; dieticians; diabetes nurses; link workers and podiatrists Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 1 session to 12 months
Strategies: face-to-face; visual aids, leaflets and teaching materials;
Format: group approach, one-to-one interviews and a mixed approach;
Theoretical approach: SAT, Empowerment Behaviour Change Model, SCT, Management model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other −QoL;
↓HbA1c;
− BP;
↑Knowledge;
BMI;
Lipid levels,
Diabetic complications,
Mortality rates, hospital admissions, hypoglycaemia
Meta -analysis using the Review Manager and narrative review
Fan, 200947; Canadian Journal of Diabetes Knowledge, self-management behaviours and metabolic control Number of studies: 50 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
DSME intervention BEHA (-)
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Unclear, did not describe Number of session: 10 (range 1–28);
Total contact hours: 17 contact hours (range 1– 52); ≤10 (46%); 11–20 (21%); >20 (33%);
Duration: 22 weeks (range 1–48); ≤8 weeks (26%); 9–24 weeks (37%); >24 weeks (37%)
Strategies: Online/web-based (4%); video (2%); face-to-face (60%); phone contact (4%); Mixed (30%).
Format: one-on-one (32%); group (40%); mixed (28%)
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other Diabetes knowledge,
Self-management behaviours;
↓ HbA1c
Comprehensive meta-analysis (V.2.0)
Duke, 200946; The Cochrane Library Metabolic control, diabetes knowledge and psychosocial outcomes Number of studies: nine studies;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1359 participants
Individual patient education BEHA (-)
□ DIET
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Diabetes educators and dieticians Number of session: 1–6;
Total contact hours: 20 min –7 hours;
Duration: 4 weeks–1 year
Strategies: face to face; telephone;
Format: individual;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings − HbA1c;
− Diabetes complications;
Health service utilisation and healthcare costs;
Psychosocial outcomes;
Diabetes knowledge; patient self-care behaviours;
Physical measures; metabolic
Meta-analysis
Alam, 200930; Patient Education and Counseling Glycaemic control and psychological status Number of studies: 35 trials;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1431 patients
Psycho-educational interventions BEHA (-)
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Generalists; psychological specialists; or did not report the specialist Number of session: 1–16;
Total contact hours: 20 min –28 hours;
Duration: about 13.7 (±11.06) weeks
Strategies: face to face; telephone calls;
Format: group format; a single format and used a combination;
Theoretical approach: TTM; motivational interviewing
Inpatient settings, other ↓ HbAlc;
↓ Psychological distress
Meta-analysis
Khunti, 200858; Diabetic Medicine Knowledge and biomedical outcomes Number of studies: nine studies;
Types of studies: RCTs and RCT was followed by a before-and-after study;
Total sample: 1004 patients
Any educational intervention □ BEHA
DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Unclear, did not describe Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 3–12 months
Strategies: face-to-face;
Format: group and individual;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Unclear, did not describe − Knowledge;
− Psychological and biomedical outcome measures
Unclear
Loveman, 200860; Health Technology Assessment Clinical effectiveness. Number of studies: 21 published trials;
Types of studies: RCTs and CCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Educational interventions BEHA (++)
DIET (+++)
□ DR
EXERCISE (+++)
GC (+++)
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (+++)
Community workers; diabetes research technician; diabetes nurse, dieticians; educationalist; medical students; nurses; pharmacists; physician or physician assistant Number of session: two to four intensive education of 1.5–2 hours followed-up with additional education at, 3 and 6 months;
Total contact hours and duration: about 150 mins over 6 months or 61–52 hours over 1 year
Strategies: face-to-face;
Format: group and individual;
Theoretical approach: cognitive-behavioural strategies; pedagogical principle
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other − Diabetic control outcomes;
Diabetic end points;
QoL and cognitive measures
Narrative review
Wens, 200878; Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice Improving adherence to medical treatment recommendations Number of studies: eight studies;
Types of studies: RCTs and controlling before and after studies
Total sample: 772 patients
Interventions aimed at improving adherence to medical treatment BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Diabetes educator; nurse or did not describe Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration:~9 months or unclear
Strategies: face-to-face; telephone;
Format: face-to-face; group based and telemedicine;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other − Adherence;
HbA1c;
Blood glucose
Cochrane Review Manager software
Hawthorne, 200853; The Cochrane Library HbAIc level, knowledge and clinical outcomes Number of studies: a total of 11 trials;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1603 patients
Culturally appropriate (or adapted) health education BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
□ MED
□ PSY
SMOKING (-)
□ SELF
Dieticians, diabetes nurses, exercise physiologists; link workers; podiatrists; psychologist and and non-professional link worker Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: 1 session to 12 months
Strategies: face-to-face; booklet;
Format: group intervention method; one-to-one interviews; mixture of the two methods; purely interactive patient-centred method; semi-structured didactic format and combination of the two approaches
Theoretical approach: SAT; Empowerment Behaviour Change Model; Behaviour Change Theory; SCT, Management Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other ↓HbA1c
Knowledge scores
− Other outcome measures
Narrative presentation and meta-analysis
Nield, 200763; The Cochrane Library Metablic control Number of studies: 36 articles (18 trials);
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 1467 participants
Dietary advice □ BEHA
DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Exercise physiologist; dietitian; group facilitator; nutritionist; nurse educator; and physician Number of session: 1–12;
Total contact hours: 20 min–22 hours;
Duration: 11 weeks– 6 months or unclear
Strategies: face-to-face;
Format: group and individual;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other − Weight;
− Diabetic complications;
− HbA1c;
QoL;
Medication use;
Cardiovascular disease risk
Meta-analysis
Zabaleta, 200779; British Journal of Community Nursing Clinical effectiveness Number of studies: 21 studies;
Types of studies: controlled trials;
Total sample: unclear
Structured group diabetes education BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
□ MED
PSY (-)
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Diabetes nurse educator; physician’s assistant and physicians Number of session: 4–6 or unclear;
Total contact hours: 6–12 hours or unclear;
Duration: 1–6 months or unclear
Strategies: face-to-face;
Format: group;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Postdischarge −HbA1c A tabulative synthesis
Deakin, 200543; The Cochrane Library Clinical, lifestyle and psychosocial outcomes Number of studies: 14 publications, reporting 11 studies;
Types of studies: RCTs, and CCTs;
Total sample: 1532 participants.
Group-based educational programmes Did not describe the content of the intervention Health professionals, lay health advisors Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: from 6 to 52 hours;
Duration: 3 hours per year for 2 years and 3 or 4 hours per year for 4 years
Strategies: unclear;
Format: group;
Theoretical approach: the Diabetes Treatment and Teaching Programme (DTTP); empowerment model; adult learning model, public health model, HBM and TTM
Inpatient settings, postdischarge ↓Metabolic control;Diabetes knowledge;
↑QoL;
↑Empowerment/self-efficacy
Summarised statistically
Vermeire, 200580; The Cochrane Library Improving adherence to treatment recommendations Number of studies: 21 articles;
Types of studies: RCTs; cross-over study; controlled trial; controlled before and after studies;
Total sample: 4135 patients
Interventions that were aimed at improving the adherence to treatment recommendations □ BEHA
□ DIET
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
GC (-)
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Nurse, pharmacist and other healthcare professionals Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear;
Duration: unclear
Strategies: face-to-face; telephone; home visit; video; mailed educational materials;
Format: unclear
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, postdischarge Direct indicators, such as
Blood glucose level;
Indirect indicators, such as pill counts;
Health outcomes
A descriptive review and subgroup meta-analysis
Gary, 200349; Diabetes Educator Body weight and glycaemic control Number of studies: 63 RCTs;
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: 2720 patients
Educational and behavioural component interventions □ BEHA
DIET (-)
□ DR
EXERCISE (-)
GC (-)
MED (-)
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
□ SELF
Nurse (39%); dietitian (26%); physician (17%); other or not specified (23%); other professional (13%); psychologist (9%); exercise psychologist (9%) and health educator (4%) Number of session: unclear;
Total contact hours: unclear.
Duration: 1 month to 19.2 months
Strategies: unclear;
Format: unclear;
Theoretical approach: SAT, contracting model and patient empowerment
Inpatient settings, postdischarge − Glycaemic control;
− Weight
Sufficient data were combined using meta-analysis
Norris, 200265; Diabetes Care Total GHb Number of studies: 31 studies
Types of studies: RCTs.
Total sample: 4263 patients
Self-management education BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
Dietitian; lay healthcare worker; nurse; physician with team; self (eg, computer-assisted instruction) and team (nurse, dietitian, etc) Number of session: 6 (1–36);
Total contact hours: 9.2 (1–28) hours;
Duration: 6 (1.0–27) months
Strategies: online/web-based; video; face-to-face; phone contact;
Format: group; individual and mixed;
Theoretical approach: unclear
Inpatient settings, post discharge, other ↓Total GHb Meta-analysis and meta-regression
Norris, 200164; Diabetes Care Clinical outcomes, knowledge, metabolic control Number of studies: 72 studies (84 papers);
Types of studies: RCTs;
Total sample: unclear
Self-management training interventions BEHA (-)
DIET (-)
□ DR
□ EXERCISE
□ GC
□ MED
□ PSY
□ SMOKING
SELF (-)
CHWs; nurse; or other healthcare professionals Number of session: 1–16;
Total contact hours: ~22 hours;
Duration: ~26 months
Strategies: online/web-based; video (2%); face-to-face; phone contact;
Format: group; individual and mixed;
Theoretical approach: SAT; Fishbein and Ajzen HBM
Inpatient settings, postdischarge, other Knowledge;
Lifestyle behaviours; −Psychological and QoL outcomes;
↑ Glycaemic control;
Cardiovascular disease risk factors
Outcomes are summarised in a qualitative fashion

ASE, attitude social influence-efficacy; BCTs, behavioural change techniques; BEHA, behavioural charge (including lifestyle modification); BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft surgery; CAD, coronary artery disease; CCTS, controlled clinical trials; CHD, coronary heart disease; CHW, community health worker; CVR, cardiovascular risk factors; CVRF, cardiovascular risk factors; DIET, diet; DR, diabetes risks; DSM, diabetes self-management; DSME, diabetes self-management education; EDU, patient education; EXERCISE, exercise; GC, glycaemic regulation; GP, general practice; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin; HBM, health belief model; HRQoL, health-related quality of life; LDL, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-c, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LEA, lower extremity amputation; MED, medication; MI, myocardial infarction; PA, physical activity; PRIDE, Problem Identification, Researching one’s routine, Identifying a management goal, Developing a plan to reach it, Expressing one’s reactions and Establishing rewards for making progress; PSY, psychosocial issues (depression, anxiety); QoL, quality of life; RCTs, randomised controlled trials; SAT, social action theory; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HDL-c, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; SCT, social cognitive theory; SELF, self-management (including problems solving); SMOKING, smoking cessation; SMS, short message system; T2DM, type two diabetes mellitus; TTM, transtheoretical model.

In the educational content: ‘+’: minor focus; ‘++’:moderate focus; ‘+++’ major focus; ‘- ’=unclear what the intensity of the education was for any topic.

In the outcomes: arrow up (‘↑’) for improvement, arrow down (‘↓’) for reduction; a dash (‘−’) for no change or inconclusive evidence.

Table 4.

Summary of evidence from quantitative research syntheses

Intervention Number of systematic reviews/meta-analysis, total participants First author, year Primary results/findings Rating the evidence of effectiveness
Patients with acute coronary syndrome
General health education Six/161 997 patients (Goulding et al, 201051 did not give the total sample size) Ghisi, 201450 Knowledge 91% studies* Some evidence
Behaviour 77%/84%/65% studies*
Psychosocial indicators 43% studies*
Brown, 201337 Mortality
MI
Revascularisations
Hospitalisations
HRQoL
Withdrawals/dropouts
Healthcare utilisation and costs
Brown, 201170 Total mortality
MI
CABG
Hospitalisations
HRQoL 63.6% studies*
Healthcare costs 40% studies*
Withdrawal/dropout
Goulding, 201051 Beliefs 30.08% studies*
Secondary outcomes
Fernandez, 200748 Smoking
Cholesterol level
Multiple risk factor modification
Kotb, 201459 All-cause hospitalisation
All-cause mortality
Smoking cessation
Depression
Systolic blood pressure
Low-density lipoprotein
Anxiety
Psychoeducational interventions Six/37 883 patients Barth, 201569 Abstinence by self-report or validated Sufficient evidence
Dickens, 201345 Depression
Aldcroft, 201131 Smoking cessation
Physical activity
Huttunen-Lenz,201056 Prevalent smoking cessation
Continuous smoking cessation
Total mortality
Barth, 200836 Abstinence by self-report or validated
Smoking status
Barth, 200635 Abstinence
Smoking status
Secondary prevention educational interventions (including Internet-based secondary prevention) Three/25 154 patients Devi, 201544 Mortality Some evidence
Revascularisation
Total cholesterol
HDL cholesterol
Triglycerides
HRQOL
Auer, 200834 All-cause mortality
Readmission rates
Reinfarction rates
Smoking cessation rates
Clark, 200541 Mortality
MI
Quality of life Most of the included studies*
Patients with T2DM
General health education Five/2319 patients (Choi et al, 201640; Loveman et al, 200860; Zabaleta et al, 200779 did not give the total sample size) Choi, 201640 HbA1c Some evidence
Saffari, 201474 Glycaemic control
Duke, 200946 HbA1c
BP
Knowledge, psychosocial outcomes and smoking habits No data
Diabetes complications or health service utilisation and cost analysis No data
Loveman, 200860 Diabetic control outcomes 46.15% studies*
Weight 66.67% studies*
Cholesterol or triglycerides 40.00% studies (+)
Zabaleta, 200779 HbA1c 4.8% studies*
Culturally appropriate health education Eight/20 622 patients (Ricci-Cabello et al, 201473 and Gucciardi et al, 201352 did not give the total sample size) Creamer, 201642 HbA1c Some evidence
HRQoL
AEs No AEs
Ricci-Cabello, 201473 HbA1c
Diabetes knowledge 73.3% studies*
Behaviours 75% studies*
Clinical outcomes Fasting blood glucose, HbA1c and BP improved in 71%, 59% and 57% of the studies
Attridge, 201433 HbA1c
Knowledge scores
Clinical outcomes
Other outcome measures Showed neutral effects
Gucciardi, 201352 HbA1c levels 3 of 10 studies*
Anthropometrics 3 of 11 studies*
Physical activity One of five studies*
Diet outcomes Two of six studies*
Nam, 201262 HbA1c level
Hawthorne, 201054 HbA1c
Knowledge scores
Khunti, 200858 Knowledge levels Only one study reporting a significant improvement
Biomedical outcomes Only one study reporting a significant improvement
Hawthorne, 200853 HbA1c
Knowledge scores
Other outcome measures
Lifestyle interventions+behavioural programme Six/10 440 patients (Huang et al, 201655; Pillay et al, 201571 and Ramadas et al, 201177 did not give the total sample size) Huang, 201655 HbA1c Some evidence
BMI
LDL-c and HDL-c
Chen, 201539 HbA1c
BMI
SBP
DBP
HDL-c
Terranova, 201572 HbA1c level
Weight
Pillay, 201571 HbA1c levels
BMI
Ramadas, 201177 HbA1c 46.2% studies *
Gary, 200349 Fast blood sugar
Glycohaemoglobin
HbA1
HbA1c
Weight
Self-management educational interventions Nine/19 597 patients (Minet et al, 201061; Fan et al, 200947 and Norris et al, 200164 did not give the total sample size) Pal, 201467 Cardiovascular risk factors Sufficient evidence
Cognitive outcomes
Behavioural outcomes Only one study reporting a significant improvement
AEs No AEs
Vugt, 201375 Health behaviours 7 of 13 studies *
Clinical outcomes measures Nine studies *
Psychological outcomes Nine studies *
Pal, 201368 HbA1c
Depression
Quality of life
Weight
Steinsbekk, 201276 HbA1c
Main lifestyle outcomes
Main psychosocial outcomes
Minet, 201061 Glycaemic control
Fan, 200947 Diabetes knowledge
Overall self-management behaviours
Overall metabolic outcomes
Overall weighted mean effect sizes
Deakin, 200543 Metabolic control (HbA1c)
Fasting blood glucose levels
Weight
Diabetes knowledge
SBP
Diabetes medication
Norris, 200265 Total GHb
Norris, 200164 Knowledge
Self-monitoring of blood glucose
Self-reported dietary habits
Glycaemic control
Therapeutic education One/total sample: unclear Odnoletkova, 201466 Cost-effectiveness Overall high in studies on prediabetes and varied in studies on T2DM Insufficient evidence
Foot health education One/total sample: unclear Amaeshi32 Diabetes complications Some evidence
Incidence of LEA
Group medical visit One/2240 patients Burke, 201138 HbA1c Some evidence
BP and DBP
SBP
Cholesterol—LDL
Psychoeducational intervention One/1431 patients Alam, 200930 HbA1c Some evidence
Psychological status
Interventions aimed at improving adherence to medical treatment recommendations Three/4907 patients (Lun Gan et al, 201157 did not give the total sample size) Lun Gan, 201157 Oral hypoglycaemic adherence Five of seven studies * Some evidence
Wens et al., 200878 Adherence General conclusions could not be drawn
Vermeire, 200580 HbA1c
Dietary advice One/1467 patients Nield, 200763 Glycaemic control (addition of exercise to dietary advice) Insufficient evidence to determine
Weight Limited data
Diabetic microvascular and macrovascular diseases Limited data

*Intervention group is significantly better than control group, for example, ‘91% studies ’ means 91% studies reported a significant better compared with control group.

AEs, adverse events; BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pessure; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft surgery; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin; HRQoL, health related quality of life; LDL-c, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LEA, lower extremity amputation; MI, myocardial infarction; RCTs, randomised controlled trials; SBP, systolic blood pressure, DBP, diastolic blood pressure, HDL-c, high density lipoprotein cholesterol; T2DM, type two diabetes mellitus.

Synthesising the results and rating the evidence for effectiveness

The statements of evidence were based on a rating scheme to gather and rate the evidence across the included publications.26 The statements of evidence were based on the following rating scheme: sufficient evidence, sufficient data to support decisions about the effect of the health education-related interventions.26 A rating of sufficient evidence in this review is obtained when systematic reviews or meta-analyses with a large number of included articles or participants produce a statistically significant result between the health education group and the control group.26 Some evidence, is a less conclusive finding about the effects of the health education-related interventions26 with statistically significant findings found in only a few included reviews or studies. Insufficient evidence, refers to not enough evidence to make decisions about the effects of the health education-related interventions, such as non-significant results between the health education group and the control group in the included systematic reviews or meta-analyses.26 Insufficient evidence to determine, refers to not enough pooled data to be able to determine whether of the health education-related interventions are effective or not based on the included reviews.26

Results

Characteristics of included reviews

The selection process and number of studies at each step was illustrated as presented in figure 1. The database search yielded 692 publications, with removal of 197 duplicates and 371 articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 124 full-text articles were retrieved after applying the methodological quality rating (AMSTAR scale), and three studies27–29 were removed due to low scores ≤3 on the AMSTAR scale. Fifty-one systematic reviews or meta-analyses30–80 conducted between 2001 and 2016 and published in English were included (figure 1; tables 1–3); 15 relating to ACS. The overlap of the trials included in the 15 reviews and meta-analyses related to ACS was slight (CCA=2.6%). For the 36 systematic reviews relating to T2DM, the overlap of trials within these 35 reviews and meta-analyses (one review47 did not report the included studies) was slight (CCA=2.1%). None of the articles included patients with both ACS and T2DM. The umbrella review involved a total of 2 77 493 patients, including 2 25 034 patients with coronary heart disease or ACS (one article did not report the total sample) and 52 459 patients with T2DM (16 papers did not report the total sample). The average sample size of included articles was 8161 (range, 536–68 556) participants, however, 63 studies related to ACS and 177 studies related to T2DM were included in more than one systematic review or meta-analysis (see online supplementary appendices 2 and 3 and CCA statistics). The sample of these studies would therefore be included more than once. Of the included systematic reviews or meta-analyses, 11 were published in The Cochrane Library. Nine of the articles described meta-analyses, 29 articles described systematic reviews and the remaining 13 articles were described as systematic reviews and meta-analyses or meta-regressions or narrative reviews.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Flow chart of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses selection process.

Electronic database searches were conducted for all systematic reviews or meta-analyses, with an average of 6 databases searched (range, 2–16). The dates searched ranged widely from inception of the database through December 2014. Most of the included reviews were randomised controlled trials (RCTs), and an average of 25.6 (range, 7–132) studies was included per systematic review or meta-analyses. Of the total, 818 unique (non-repeated) studies were included in all of the reviews or meta-analyses, 286 included patients with ACS and 532 included patients with T2DM (see online supplementary appendix 2 and 3). The included reviews assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane risk of bias tool (22 publications), JADA quality score (7 publications), Joanna Briggs quality assessment tool (2 publications), PEDro scale (1 publication), RCT Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (1 publication) and the SIGN-50 checklist (1 publication).

Methodological quality of included systematic reviews and meta-analyses

The methodological quality of the included publications is presented in table 1. Thirty (58.8%) publications were classified as high quality (scores 8–11) and 21 (41.2%) publications were classified as medium quality (scores 4–7). Twenty-five (49%) reviews specifically provided an a priori design, while the use of such a design was unclear for 26 (51%) publications. The inclusion of other forms of literature (such as grey literature) was described in 18 (35%) reviews. Only 14 out of 51 (27%) reviews included a table of included and excluded studies. Only two (4%) reviews did not provide a characteristics table of the included papers. The scientific quality of the included papers was evaluated and documented in 47 (92%) reviews. The scientific quality of the included studies was used appropriately to formulate conclusions in 47 (92%) reviews. The methods to combine the results of the included studies were appropriate in 43 (86%) reviews. Publication bias was assessed in only 19 (37%) reviews. Finally, conflicts of interest were reported in 47 (92%) reviews.

Characteristics of health educational interventions

The description of the health educational interventions followed the Workgroup for Intervention Development and Evaluation Research reporting guidelines for behaviour change interventions.81 The characteristics of the recipients, setting, delivery methods, intensity, duration and educational content of health educational interventions for patients with ACS or T2DM are summarised in tables 2 and 3. The delivery strategies for health education included face-to-face, internet-based, phone-based, videotape, written educational materials or mixed. The format included one-on-one (individualised), group or both. Face-to-face sessions were the most common delivery formats, and many education sessions were also delivered by telephone/web contact or individualised counselling. The number of sessions, total contact hours and durations varied, and there was limited information about the intensity of health education for patients provided. The frequency of educational sessions was weekly or monthly, and an average of 3.7 topics was covered per education session. Nurses and multidisciplinary teams were the most frequent educators, and most education programmes were delivered postdischarge.

Acute coronary syndrome

The educational content for patients with ACS covered cardiovascular risk factors in eight reviews (53.33%), psychosocial issues in eight reviews (53.33%), smoking cessation in six reviews (40.00%), exercise in five reviews (33.33%), behavioural change in five reviews (33.33%), diet in four reviews (26.67%), self-management in three reviews (20.00%) and medication in one review (6.67%). Two reviews only included smoking cessation and cardiovascular risk factors. The most common educational providers were nurses and a multidisciplinary team. Six studies31 36 48 51 56 69 (6/15, 40%) described the theoretical approach that underpinned the education intervention.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus

The educational content for patients with T2DM included diet in 23 reviews (63.89%), behavioural change in 21 reviews (58.33%), self-management in 20 reviews (55.56%), exercise in 17 reviews (47.22%), glycaemic regulation in 16 reviews (44.45%), medication in 13 reviews (36.11%), psychosocial issues in 9 reviews (25.00%), smoking cessation in 2 reviews (5.56%), cardiovascular risk factors in 2 reviews (5.56%) and DM risks in 1 review (2.78%). The most common providers were dieticians, nurses and a multidisciplinary team. The number of sessions, total contact hours and durations varied. Thirteen reviews30 33 43 49 52–54 60 64 67 75–77 (13/36, 36.11%) described the theoretical approach that underpinned the education intervention.

Effect of interventions

The outcomes of the included systematic reviews and meta-analyses are summarised in table 4.

Patients with ACS

Three major types of health education-related interventions were used for patients with ACS: general health education (only included general health information), psychoeducational interventions and secondary prevention educational interventions (including strategies to promote a healthy lifestyle, manage medications and reduce cardiovascular complications) as well as internet-based interventions.

General health education

The findings are based on our synthesis of the findings from six systematic reviews.37 48 50 51 59 70 Overall, there were mixed effects of general health education on behavioural change or clinical outcomes in patients with ACS. There was some evidence of a positive effect of general health education on knowledge, behaviour, psychosocial indicators, beliefs and risk factor modification, but no effects for key clinical outcomes, such as cholesterol level, hospitalisation, mortality, MI and revascularisation. The results for health-related quality of life, healthcare utilisation and costs were mixed; several reviews reported a significant change, and other reviews reported no significant change for these outcomes. Only one review focused on telephone-based health education. There is some evidence that telephone-based health education during cardiac rehabilitation might improve all-cause hospitalisation, anxiety, depression, smoking cessation and systolic BP, but there is no evidence for improvements in all-cause mortality and reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.59

Psychoeducational interventions

Strategies for psychoeducational interventions have a specific focus on smoking cessation and depression. The findings are based on synthesis of results from six publications.31 35 36 45 56 69 There is sufficient evidence that psychoeducational programmes are effective at decreasing smoking, achieving smoking abstinence and reducing depression. One review reported no effect on smoking cessation31 or total mortality.56

Secondary prevention educational interventions

The following statements are based on our synthesis of results from three papers.34 41 44 There is some evidence that secondary prevention educational interventions reduce MI readmission rates and improve quality of life, but the intervention was ineffective in reducing revascularisation, cholesterol levels and improving smoking cessation rates. The results are mixed for mortality and re-infarction rates; two reviews34 41 found positive effects on mortality, while one review44 did not.

Patients with T2DM

Ten types of health education-related interventions were used for patients with T2DM: culturally appropriate health education (tailored to the religious beliefs, culture, literacy and linguistics of the geographical area), dietary advice, foot health education, group medical visits (a group education component taught by health professionals), general health education (only included general health information), improving the uptake and maintenance of medication regimes (eg, promoting the use of oral hypoglycaemic medications), lifestyle interventions (specific focus on dietary changes and increased physical activity, or stress management), psychoeducational interventions and self-management educational interventions (activities that promote or maintain the behaviours to manage T2DM often based on the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education13) and therapeutic education (collaborative process needed to modify behaviour and more effectively manage risk factors).

Culturally appropriate health education

Findings are based on our synthesis of results from eight publications.33 42 52–54 58 62 72 Overall, there was some evidence of the effects of culturally appropriate health education on clinical outcomes for T2DM. There was sufficient evidence that culturally appropriate health education improves HbA1c reduction and knowledge scores. There is some evidence that physical activity and clinical outcomes (blood glucose, HbA1c, BP) were improved. There were no data relating to adverse events during the intervention and follow-up (such as hypoglycaemic events and mortality), and there was insufficient evidence about improvements in quality of life.

General health education

The statements are based on our synthesis of results from five papers.40 46 60 74 79 Overall, there were mixed effects of general health education programmes on clinical outcomes for T2DM, including HbA1c, cholesterol level and triglyceride level. There was some evidence of the effectiveness of general health education on the management of glycaemia, weight reduction and some diabetes management outcomes (HbA1c, diabetes complications). There were no data supporting the effectiveness of general health education on reduced health service utilisation, diabetes complications, improved knowledge, psychosocial outcomes or smoking habits.

Lifestyle interventions

The following statements are based on our synthesis of results from six reviews.39 49 55 71 72 77 Overall, there were mixed effects of the lifestyle interventions on cholesterol level, HbA1c level and body weight. There is some evidence that lifestyle interventions or behavioural programmes are effective for blood glucose and BP management, but they were ineffective for reductions in HbA1c scores.71 72

Uptake and maintenance of medication regimes

The statements are based on our synthesis of results from three publications.57 78 80 There is some evidence of the effectiveness of increased uptake and maintenance of medication regimes for taking medications for HbA1c regulation including oral hypoglycaemic agents.

Self-Management educational interventions

The statements are based on our synthesis of results from nine reviews.43 47 61 64 65 67 68 75 76 Overall, there was sufficient evidence of the effects of self-management education interventions on HbA1c level, knowledge, lifestyle outcomes and main psychosocial outcomes. However, there was insufficient evidence of the benefits of this education intervention on depression, quality of life and body weight.

Other health education-related interventions

Other health education-related interventions for patients with T2DM included therapeutic education, foot health education, group medical visits, psychoeducational interventions and dietary advice. Statements for all of these interventions are based on our synthesis of results from one review.

There is some evidence that foot health education is effective in reducing the incidence of lower extremity amputation.32 There is some evidence that group medical visits are effective for improving HbA1c and systolic BP management.38 There is also some evidence that psychoeducational programmes are effective for improving HbA1c regulation and psychological status.30

Finally, there is insufficient evidence that dietary advice improves glycaemic and weight management or reduces microvascular and macrovascular diseases.63 There is also insufficient evidence for the cost-effectiveness of therapeutic education for patients with T2DM.66

Discussion

This umbrella review identified 51 systematic reviews or meta-analyses (15 for ACS and 36 for T2DM) that assessed the outcomes of various aspects (such as the duration, contact hours, educational content, delivery mode) of the delivery of health education-related interventions relevant to high-risk patients with ACS and T2DM. Health education has become an integral part of the management for people with ACS and T2DM. The most appropriate focus of the education provided to patients with ACS and T2DM remains largely undefined in the literature. For example, it remains unknown if the focus should be primarily on cardiovascular risk factors, blood glucose monitoring or all educational components for patients with both conditions.70 76 In addition, should cardiovascular risk factors be the focus during the acute inpatient stay with other educational needs such as the smoking cessation occurring within the primary care or outpatient settings.31 69 70

It remains challenging to determine the specific strategy or format that is the most effective delivery mode for patients with ACS or T2DM. There is very limited evidence to guide clinicians on the duration, contact hours, educational content, delivery mode, total length and setting of health education programme for cardiac patients.50 For patients with DM, one study reported that more successful programme were longer than 6 months (longer duration), consisted of greater than 10 contact sessions (high intensity) and were one-on-one sessions with individualised assessment.82

Use of theoretical orientation to develop educational intervention

For patients with ACS

Use of theory when designing behavioural change interventions may also influence effectiveness.75 Health education using a cognitive behavioural strategy is most consistently effective in changing maladaptive illness beliefs,51 and studies using more than two behavioural change strategies reported significant differences between the intervention and control groups.31 In one review, a significant change in smoking cessation was not observed in subgroup analyses between studies that did or did not report using a theory in intervention planning56; however, the authors did not suggest that using a theory in programme planning should be disregarded but reported that examining actual theories or mechanisms underlying health education programmes is required.56 Owing to the considerable overlap between different theories and the detailed description of the theoretical approach in only approximately 40% of the included papers, it is difficult to determine the most effective theoretical approach, but many models can be used with success, such as the health belief model (HBM), social cognitive theory (SCT) and transtheoretical model (TTM).56 67 69 75 Three reviews31 41 44 noted that some included studies used behavioural strategies such as goal setting. These strategies were found to be beneficial for patients with coronary heart disease.

For patients with T2DM

Although the theoretical approach underpinning the health education programme was not always described, 13 of the 36 reviews (36.11%) related to T2DM reported the theoretical approach used in their included studies. The most common theories were SCT (including self-efficacy), empowerment theories (eg, empowerment behaviour change model, self-determination and autonomy motivation theory, middle-range theory of community empowerment) and TTM. There is evidence that health education interventions based on a theoretical model are likely to be effective.43 Vugt et al suggested that self-care education programmes should be based on theories and that theory-based self-care interventions are more effective than non-theory-based programmes.75 83 Theories could help to specify the key target health behaviours and behavioural change techniques required to generate the desired outcomes.75 The decision regarding the theory should be based on the aim of the programme and factor for intervention.77 Only one review reported that a theoretical approach underpinning the health education programme is not necessary for better outcomes.76 Fourteen reviews30 33 40 46 52 57 60 63 64 67 68 73 75 77 reported that goal setting was conducted in the included studies. Goal setting by patients, health professionals or mutually agreed goals were linked to improved patient outcomes.

Educational content

For patients with ACS

Most reviews reported that the educational content of the interventions was comprehensive. The most common topics, of the average 3.7 topics per education session, were behavioural change, cardiovascular risk factors management, exercise, psychosocial issues and smoking cessation. An underlying principle of health education for patients with ACS is that knowledge is necessary, but not enough to develop health behaviours and change risk factors.31 50 Age, cognitive factors, environmental factors and social and economic background are also important considerations.50 While interventions using a behavioural programme, telephone-based content or self-care are effective for smoking cessation, there was insufficient evidence to support that any type of educational programme was more efficacious than the others.69 Psychoeducation, which is defined as multimodal, educationally based, self-management interventions,31 led to enhanced physical activity levels within 6–12 months when added to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) and was more effective than an exercise programme or health education alone.31 56 Moreover, psychoeducational interventions were more effective for patients with ACS than other types of health education.31 56

For patients with T2DM

The educational content for patients with T2DM focused more on behavioural change, diet, exercise, glycaemic regulation, medication and self-management. Health education that was self-management was more effective for patients with T2DM.40 47 In addition, based on the current evidence, the educational content should be culturally sensitive, especially for patients with T2DM33 42 54; culturally appropriate diabetes health education may have a greater impact on the management of glycaemia and reduce diabetes complications.77 The educational interventions for patients with T2DM focused primarily on HbA1c, lipid levels, quality of life and body weight. HBM and SCT were the most common theories used in the included reviews.

Teaching strategies and outcomes

For patients with ACS

Most reviews reported that the education was provided using multiple teaching methods and in multiple settings. Nurses and multidisciplinary teams were the most frequent people providing education, and most education programmes were delivered postdischarge. Although face-to-face sessions were the most common delivery format, many education sessions were also delivered by telephone or through individualised counselling. Telephone-based health education appeared to be effective for reducing hospitalisations, systolic BP, smoking rates, depression and anxiety.59 The educational interventions for patients with ACS focused primarily on clinical outcomes (hospitalisation and mortality), modifiable risk factors (BP, low-density lipoprotein levels and smoking cessation) and other psychological outcomes (anxiety and depression).

For patients with T2DM

Mixed health education programmes generally included group sessions combined with educator-facilitated individual sessions, covering basic knowledge and problem-solving skills. These programmes produced greater benefits and larger effect sizes for blood glucose reduction and knowledge levels in patients with T2DM.47 In contrast, individual education programmes have been reported as more effective in achieving outcomes than group-based education. This may be because education programmes might be more efficient at addressing personal needs, with greater participant engagement.73 However, one systematic review reported that individual and group patient education demonstrated similar outcomes among patients with T2DM.46

Although face-to-face sessions were the most common delivery format, many education sessions were also delivered by telephone or individualised counselling. Face-to-face health education programmes were most effective for enhancing blood glucose regulation and knowledge levels, while mixed delivery models (face-to-face, phone contact, online or web-based or video) produced a moderate effect for knowledge levels.47 Another review reported that face-to-face health education programmes generated a greater benefit for metabolic management than those delivered using electronic communication technology.73

Nurses (including diabetes nurses educators), community workers, dieticians and multidisciplinary teams were the most frequent educators, and most of the education programmes were delivered postdischarge. Some reviews indicated that health education programmes delivered by a group of different educators, with some degree of education reinforcement at additional points of contact, may provide the best results.60 76 However, based on two studies that reported HbA1c at 12 months, it is indicated that the outcomes in studies with only a diabetes nurse as the educator also tended to do better than the outcomes in studies with a multidisciplinary team, while the biggest effect was seen when a dietician was the only educator.76 Health education programmes delivered by one person may focus more on the patient’s ability than the educational content or quality of the health education programmes.76 However, no clear conclusion can be drawn whether having one educator delivering the intervention is best due to few information.60

Delivery, timing and follow-up

For patients with ACS

Most educational sessions were delivered weekly. Few reviews provided information regarding the duration of education interventions; when the duration was reported, it varied from 4 weeks to 48 months. These findings suggest that there is a significant gap in the evidence in relation to the duration, contact hours, educational content, optimal delivery mode, total length and setting of health education programmes for cardiac patients.50 For patients with ACS, one systematic review that included 7 studies with a total of 536 participants reported that studies with education lasting at least 6 months resulted in the most significant changes in the primary outcomes (such as behavioural change, smoking cessation)31 and that at least 12 months of follow-up is needed to evaluate the impact of telephone-based education.59 Another review reported that the intensity of education programmes is important for efficacy regarding smoking cessation: interventions with a very low intensity and brief interventions do not have a significant effect,69 and programmes for smoking cessation among patients with coronary heart disease should last >1 month.69 Most of the reviews were provided for patients with ACS in inpatient settings and then within postdischarge settings, five reviews31 36 45 48 59 did not explicitly state the settings in which the health education-related interventions were provided.

For patients with T2DM

Education sessions were delivered weekly or monthly. Longer health education programmes for T2DM (>6 months) produced larger effects for all primary outcomes (such as HbA1c).47 Health education lasting >3 months resulted in the largest effect size compared with health education of a shorter duration (<3 months).33 For HbA1c, the effect size at 6 months seemed to be significantly greater than at 3 and 12 months; in other words, the effect size peaked at 6 months.62 In general, health education of a greater intensity (longer duration and more sessions) was more effective for blood glucose reduction and knowledge levels among patients with T2DM.47 74 Compared with health education programmes covering only one topic, programmes that included multiple or mixed educational topics yielded consistently greater benefits in blood glucose reduction and knowledge levels.47 In addition, health education programmes combined with specific behavioural change strategies (such as self-care strategies) seemed more effective than other programmes.47 Health education-related interventions were mainly delivered in hospital settings, primary care settings, diabetes centres or community-based settings, although six reviews32 39 55 58 67 72 did not explicitly state the delivery settings.

Recommendations about health education interventions for patients with ACS and T2DM

These results from included systematic reviews and meta-analyses help to provide recommendations about the content of a health education intervention for patients with ACS and T2DM, requiring further evaluation. Future development of educational programmes for patients with ACS and T2DM by healthcare professionals should consider the needs of people with these diseases.37 40 42 70 Based on the results and findings from this umbrella review, recommendations are made in table 5. The acute life-threatening nature of ACS requires that increased emphasis should be placed on cardiovascular risk factors in any combined education programme. Both ACS and T2DM have common lifestyle factors such as inactivity and high fat diet requiring modifications.

Table 5.

Recommendations of health education programmes for patients with ACS and T2DM

Patients with ACS Patients with T2DM Both ACS and T2DM
Theoretical approach SCT, empowerment theories. HBM; SCT. HBM; SCT and empowerment theories
Behavioural strategies Goal setting Goal setting Goal setting
Educational content Behavioural change (such as smoking cessation), cardiovascular risk factors, exercise, medication and psychosocial issues Behavioural change, diet, exercise, glycaemic control, medication and self-management Behavioural change (such as smoking cessation), cardiovascular risk factors, diet, exercise, glycaemic control, medication, psychosocial issues and self- management
Healthcare professionals to deliver Nurse or multidisciplinary team Multidisciplinary team; dietitian or nurse Nurse or multidisciplinary team
Teaching approaches Strategies Face to face; telephone or mixed Face-to-face, written materials; telephone or mixed Face-to-face, written materials; telephone contact or mixed
 Format Individual (one by one) or mixed Individual (one by one) or mixed Individual (one by one) or mixed
Delivery timing Contact hours More than 30 min per time per week More than 30 min per time per week More than 30 min per time per week
 Duration At least 6 months About 6 months At least 6 months
Duration of follow-up At least 12 months At least 12 months At least 12 months
Settings Inpatient and postdischarge settings Hospital settings and primary care settings Inpatient and postdischarge settings

ACS, acute coronary syndrome; T2DM, type two diabetes mellitus; SCT, social cognitive theory; HBM, health belief model.

Overall completeness and applicability of evidence

This overview potentially provides an estimate with the lowest level of bias for the impact of health education-related interventions for patients with ACS or T2DM and could be regarded as an all-inclusive summary of the current evidence base for health education for these patients. While this umbrella review identified evidence for each of the types of health education, there was only a small number of reviews within some categories (such as psychoeducational intervention30 and dietary advice63), and these studies were not very informative. This umbrella review also found no reviews that systematically analysed varying doses of health education; therefore, could not examine the dose-response effects. There was insufficient information about the evaluated doses (total contact hours and duration of education) to enable comparison of the benefits of differences in the magnitude of the doses across the different research. This umbrella review found no reviews focused on patients with ACS and T2DM; instead, all of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses focused on only one of these diseases.

Quality of the evidence

The methodological quality of the included systematic reviews and meta-analyses varied. All of the included reviews or meta-analyses were of moderate-to-high methodological quality, as assessed using AMSTAR. However, only 30 (58.8%) systematic reviews or meta-analyses were rated as high quality and only 3 (5.9%) systematic reviews or meta-analyses43 53 69 adequately met all 11 AMSTAR criteria. This indicates that some of the reviews included in this umbrella review may have limitations in their design, conduct and/or reporting that could have influenced the findings when considered both individually and collectively.32 65

The quality of the primary studies in the included systematic reviews or meta-analyses also varied. The main sources of bias were inadequate reporting of allocation concealment and randomisation processes, as well as lack of outcome blinding.33 42 69 70 This bias in the methodological quality led to lower quality assessments, which varied by results within each included review. Other reasons for lower methodological quality included heterogeneity in, or inconsistency of, the effect and imprecise findings. Heterogeneity between studies in this umbrella review was described in terms of the intervention, participant characteristics and length of follow-up. Heterogeneity was an important factor indicating the complexity of the health education interventions.56 The variability in the approaches, tools or scales used to measure outcomes between the included studies are likely to introduce some heterogeneity.30 The heterogeneity of the educational interventions seen in the reviews included in this umbrella review may reflect the uncertainty about the optimal strategy for providing health education to patients.37 In addition, 240 studies were included more than once in the included reviews and meta-analyses. However, the overall overlap of studies among reviews and meta-analyses-related ACS and T2DM was slight, CCA of 2.6% and 2.1%, respectively.25

This umbrella review is the first synthesis of systematic reviews or meta-analyses to take a broad perspective on health education-related interventions for patients with ACS or T2DM. Given that health education is complex, the biggest challenge for systematic reviews or meta-analyses of health education is accounting for the potential clinical heterogeneity in health education-related interventions (content and delivery approaches) and the population of patients who receive health education. To facilitate comparisons across systematic reviews of health education and the efficient future update of this umbrella review, future reviews or meta-analyses need high-quality research and to standardise their design and reporting, including the reporting of included study characteristics, assessment criteria for risk of bias, outcomes and methods to synthesise evidence synthesis.

Conclusions

For clinicians providing educational interventions to individuals with ACS and T2DM, the results from this review provide a contemporaneous perspective on current evidence on the effectiveness of health education (its content and delivery methods) for this high-risk patient group. The current evidence compiled by this umbrella review supports current international clinical guidelines, that theoretically based education interventions lasting 6 months, delivered in multiple modes (face to face, phone contact, online or web-based or video), and with individualised education delivered weekly, are more likely to generate positive outcomes. This review also supports health education-related interventions provided by health professionals, including nurses and multidisciplinary teams, delivering content including specific clinical factors for ACS and T2DM (BP, glycaemic level and medication), modifiable risk factors (unhealthy diet, inactivity and smoking) and other psychological factors (anxiety and depression). These health education interventions could be delivered postdischarge, such as rehabilitation centres, primary care centres and the community and should be at least 6 months in duration. The effectiveness of these programmes was based on HbA1c levels, knowledge, psychosocial outcomes, readmission rates and smoking status rather than clear evidence of reduced mortality, MI or short-term and long-term complications. In addition, psychoeducational interventions were more effective for patients with ACS, and health education that was culturally appropriate or taught self-management was more effective for patients with T2DM. We also found that longer durations and high-intensity health education provided in an individualised format were more helpful for patients with ACS or T2DM.

The fact that none of the included reviews included patients with both ACS and T2DM indicates a clear need for further rigorous experimental studies with patients with both diseases. Future research that includes these aspects of education are likely to determine the effectiveness of educational interventions focusing on cardiovascular and DM risk factors and complications within patients with ACS and T2DM.

Supplementary Material

Reviewer comments
Author's manuscript

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the authors of the original articles who provided additional unpublished data.

Footnotes

Contributors: Study conception and design: XL-L, MJ, KW, C-JW, YS. Data collection: XL-L, YS. Data analysis: XL-L, YS, MJ, KW, C-JW. Manuscript drafts: XL-L, MJ, C-JW, KW, YS.

Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. The lead author is a recipient of an Australian Catholic University Faculty of Health Sciences Tongji University Cotutelle PhD Scholarship.

Competing interests: None declared.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.

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