Digital Health Professions Education on Diabetes Management: Systematic Review by the Digital Health Education Collaboration.

Shuen Yee Lee,Mervin Tee,Ram Bajpai,Monika Semwal,William Ong,Zhilian Huang,Woan Shin Tan,Lorainne Tudor Car

doi:10.2196/12997

Abstract

BackgroundThere is a shortage of health care professionals competent in diabetes management worldwide. Digital education is increasingly used in educating health professionals on diabetes. Digital diabetes self-management education for patients has been shown to improve patients’ knowledge and outcomes. However, the effectiveness of digital education on diabetes management for health care professionals is still unknown.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness and economic impact of digital education in improving health care professionals’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, satisfaction, and competencies. We also assessed its impact on patient outcomes and health care professionals’ behavior.MethodsWe included randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of digitalized diabetes management education for health care professionals pre- and postregistration. Publications from 1990 to 2017 were searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, and Web of Science. Screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were conducted independently by 2 authors.ResultsA total of 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies were heterogeneous in terms of digital education modality, comparators, outcome measures, and intervention duration. Most studies comparing digital or blended education to traditional education reported significantly higher knowledge and skills scores in the intervention group. There was little or no between-group difference in patient outcomes or economic impact. Most studies were judged at a high or unclear risk of bias.ConclusionsDigital education seems to be more effective than traditional education in improving diabetes management–related knowledge and skills. The paucity and low quality of the available evidence call for urgent and well-designed studies focusing on important outcomes such as health care professionals’ behavior, patient outcomes, and cost-effectiveness as well as its impact in diverse settings, including developing countries.

Highlights

Diabetes is one of the biggest global public health concerns affecting an estimated 425 million adults worldwide, and this number is expected to rise to 629 million by 2045 [1]
Studies were heterogeneous in terms of digital education modality, comparators, outcome measures, and intervention duration
Digital education seems to be more effective than traditional education in improving diabetes management–related knowledge and skills

Summary

Introduction

Diabetes is one of the biggest global public health concerns affecting an estimated 425 million adults worldwide, and this number is expected to rise to 629 million by 2045 [1]. This is coupled with a shortage of health care professionals competent in delivering high-quality diabetes care [2,3]. The effectiveness of digital education interventions for health care professionals on diabetes management is still unknown [11] To address this gap, we performed a systematic review to evaluate the effect of digital education on diabetes management on health care professionals’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, competencies, and behaviors, as well as its impact on patient outcomes. The effectiveness of digital education on diabetes management for health care professionals is still unknown

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