Shared decision-making and outcomes in type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease which necessitates the development of a therapeutic alliance between patient and provider. This review systematically examines the association between treatment shared decision-making (SDM) and outcomes in diabetes.

A range of bibliographic databases and gray literature sources was searched. Included studies were subjected to dual data extraction and quality assessment. Outcomes were synthesized using meta-analyses where reporting was sufficiently homogenous or alternatively synthesized in narrative fashion.

The search retrieved 4592 records, which were screened by title, abstract, and full text to identify 16 studies with a range of study designs and populations. We found evidence of an association between SDM and improved decision quality, patient knowledge and patient risk perception. We found little evidence of an association between SDM and glycemic control, patient satisfaction, quality of life, medication adherence or trust in physician.

This work elucidates the potential clinical utility of SDM interventions in the management of Type 2 Diabetes and helps inform future research on the topic.

A more complete understanding of the associations between SDM and outcomes will guide and motivate efforts aimed at improving uptake of the SDM paradigm.