Describing the evidence linking interprofessional education interventions to improving the delivery of safe and effective patient care: a scoping review

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart of study selection based on PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR).

Table 1. Study characteristics.

Variable	n (%)
Year
2015	13 (14)
2016	15 (16)
2017	14 (15)
2018	19 (20)
2019	10 (11)
2020	13 (14)
2021	10 (11)
Geographical location
North America	69 (73)
Europe	12 (13)
Africa	5 (5)
Asia	4 (4)
Australia	4 (4)
South America	0
Study design
Before-and-after study	62 (66)
Randomized controlled trial	10 (11)
Descriptive cross-sectional study	8 (8)
Non-randomized controlled trial	6 (6)
Retrospective cohort	4 (4)
Interrupted time series study	3 (3)
Case report	1 (1)
Profession
Medicine	82 (87)
Nursing	77 (82)
Pharmacy	40 (43)
Social work	26 (28)
Physical therapy or physiotherapist	18 (19)
Respiratory therapy	15 (16)
Dietitian or nutritionist	13 (14)
Psychology	12 (13)
Occupational therapy	11 (12)
Midwifery	7 (7)
Other*	58 (62)
Training
Professionals	64 (68)
Students	14 (15)
Students and professionals	16 (17)
Number of professionals involved
1–100	22 (23)
101–200	7 (7)
201–300	6 (6)
301 or more	8 (9)
Unknown	51 (54)
Number of patients involved
1–100	20 (21)
101–200	7 (7)
201–300	12 (13)
301 or more	35 (37)
Unknown	20 (21)
Setting
Inpatient	42 (45)
Outpatient	30 (32)
Emergency	8 (9)
Hospice or long-term care	3 (3)
Other	8 (9)
More than 1 of the above	3 (3)

*Note, some selected articles included an “other category” of health professionals who engaged in the IPE intervention.

Table 2. Quality health measures.

Measure	Studies	Outcomes (% of Studies)
		Positive	No Change	Negative
Length of stay	27	18 (67)	8 (30)	1 (4)
Medical errors	22	17 (77)	4 (18)	1 (5)
Patient satisfaction	21	20 (95)	1 (5)	0
Patient or caregiver education	21	20 (95)	1 (5)	0
Mortality	20	10 (50)	10 (50)	0
Readmission rate	18	6 (33)	12 (67)	0
Medication errors	8	8 (100)	0	0
Medication adherence	8	8 (100)	0	0
Infection rate	5	3 (60)	2 (40)	0
Hospice use	1	1 (100)	0	0

Length of stay included department-specific length of stay (e.g. intensive care unit length of stay). Medical errors included, e.g., misdiagnosis, delayed time to diagnosis, and complications from procedures. Patient satisfaction was not limited to the use of formal patient satisfaction instruments. For the outcome of patient or caregiver education, knowledge/impact of education must be assessed; delivery of medication as a process outcome was not counted as a direct patient outcome. Medication errors included, e.g., errors in medication reconciliation, adverse effects, and suboptimal treatment selection. Hospice use reflected appropriateness of hospice use.