The effectiveness of interprofessional education for the management of diabetes and oral health: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Diabetes and oral disease are becoming increasingly prevalent in Australia and share a bidirectional relationship. Despite this relationship, collaboration between the medical and dental professions is limited. This study assessed the available evidence of interprofessional educational programs on diabetes and oral health management and their effects on knowledge and confidence of health professionals involved. This review included randomized and non-randomized-controlled trials and before-and-after comparison studies in English with no limits on the year of publication. Electronic databases Medline, EMBASE, Emcare, and CINAHL were systematically searched and studies were critically appraised. Nineteen articles were identified from 411 for full-text screening. Four studies of a quasi-experimental design with a pre- and posttest evaluation were included in the review. Of these, three studies reported positive changes in the participants’ knowledge of the roles of other healthcare professionals with improved attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration and communication, and one reported increased confidence of medical and dental professionals when working in an interprofessional team. Interprofessional education should improve health professionals’ attitudes and knowledge of the roles of other health professionals in managing diabetes and oral health and their confidence in working together. However, given the limited availability of interprofessional education on diabetes and oral health management, continuous research in this area would improve the evidence base.

KEYWORDS:

• Continuing education
• diabetes mellitus
• health knowledge
• oral health
• periodontal diseases
• systematic review

Acknowledgments

This review was completed as part of the University of Melbourne Doctor of Medicine Research Project (MDRP). The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Department of General Practice during the production of this review.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Huy Do

Huy Do is a research assistant at the Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne in Australia.

Hanny Calache

Prof. Hanny Calache is a clinical researcher at the Centre for Population Health Research, Faculty of Health at Deakin University, Melbourne.

Ivan Darby

Prof. Ivan Darby is the professor and head of periodontics at Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne.

Phyllis Lau

Dr Phyllis Lau is a senior research fellow at the Department of General Practice, The University of Melbourne.