Interprofessional simulation effects for healthcare students: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To conduct a systematic review of studies describing the effects of interprofessional education (IPE) on collaborative competence using simulated-based training of undergraduate healthcare students.

A systematic review and meta-analysis based on PRISMA guidelines.

PubMed and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases were searched to identify articles in all languages published up to 2018. The systematic review protocol was registered at PROSPERO under number 133330.

In total, 419 articles were identified. The following articles were excluded: non-English articles, articles for which the full text was not available, articles that did not employ a validated tool, articles that did not use quasi-experimental methods and that did not assess healthcare student populations. Eleven studies were included, and 6 were submitted to meta-analysis using forest plots through RevMan 5.3.

Interprofessional simulation analysis yielded results regarding participants, protocols, scenarios, validated tools, collaborative competencies and primary outcomes. The meta-analysis was organized based on assessment tool, and summary value, confidence interval, and Z test results for the random-effects model are presented.

Quantitative analysis reveals a positive impact and the effectiveness of interprofessional simulation. However, more research should be conducted utilizing clinical trials with distinguished analyses for each collaborative competency factor to assess long-term effects on the outcome.