Educational group visits for the management of chronic health conditions: a systematic review.

Objective: Review the effectiveness of group visits (appointments of multiple patients) on quality of life, function, self-efficacy, utilization, and biophysical outcomes in randomized controlled trials of patients with chronic conditions.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE(®), Cochrane, CINAHL, and PsycINFO to January 2013 for English-language trials of educational group visits led by non-prescribing facilitators (e.g., peer educators).

Results: We report on 80 arthritis/falls (n=22), asthma/COPD (n=10), CHF/hypertension (n=12), diabetes (n=29), multiple conditions (n=4), and pain (n=4) studies. We found moderate evidence of improved short-term self-efficacy in patients with arthritis (10 studies) and diabetes (10 studies). We found no consistent evidence of improved quality of life; however a moderately strong body of evidence suggests peer-led community-based programs might improve quality of life and utilization in patients with multiple chronic conditions. Meta-analyses found short- (14 studies; mean change HbA1c=-0.27, CI=-0.44, 0.11) and long-term (10 studies; mean change HbA1c=-0.23, CI=-0.44, -0.02) glycemic improvement.

Conclusions: Group visits may improve self-efficacy and glycemic control. There was little consistent evidence of improved quality of life, functional status, or utilization.

Practice Implications: Group visits represent a reasonable alternative for educating patients with chronic illness, though varied participation/retention suggests they should not be the sole alternative.