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Published on: August 1, 2019
Printed educational materials: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes
Anik Giguère1,2, Hervé Tchala Vignon Zomahoun3, Pierre-Hugues Carmichael4
1Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Canada.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|August 5, 2020
Summary
Printed educational materials (PEMs) likely improve healthcare professionals' practice but have uncertain effects on patient health outcomes when used alone. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and explore intervention characteristics.
Area of Science:
- Health Professions Education
- Evidence-Based Practice
- Systematic Review Methodology
Background:
- Printed educational materials (PEMs) are traditional tools for disseminating knowledge to healthcare professionals.
- Their impact on professional practice and patient outcomes requires ongoing evaluation.
- This review represents the fourth update, synthesizing the latest evidence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of PEMs on healthcare professionals' practice and patient health outcomes.
- To investigate how characteristics of PEMs influence their impact.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials (RTs), controlled before-after (CBA) studies, and interrupted time series (ITS) studies.
- Searched multiple databases up to February 2019.
- Analyzed studies comparing PEMs to no intervention, single interventions, or as part of multifaceted interventions.
Main Results:
- PEMs likely improve healthcare professionals' practice (moderate-certainty evidence from RTs) compared to no intervention.
- PEMs showed little to no difference in patient health outcomes (moderate-certainty evidence from RTs).
- Evidence for continuous variables and ITS studies was of very low certainty; computerised vs. printed PEMs showed minimal difference.
Conclusions:
- PEMs, when used alone, may offer slight improvements in professional practice and patient outcomes.
- The comparative effectiveness of PEMs against other interventions or as part of multifaceted strategies remains uncertain.
- Variable study quality and methodological limitations impact the certainty of findings.
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