Patient-centered education in dyslipidemia management: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia management is crucial to reduce mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Patients must be educated and empowered to enable them to manage their own diseases. Various methods of patient education, such as patient-centered education (PCE) or non-PCE (such as didactic education or any traditional form of education), have been implemented.

OBJECTIVE: To review and determine the effectiveness of PCE for dyslipidemia management compared with usual care. The primary outcome chosen was cholesterol level. Other measures, such as psychosocial or cognitive, behavioral, and other relevant outcomes, were also extracted. Additionally, underlying theories and other contributing factors that may have led to the success of the intervention were also reviewed and discussed.

METHODS: We conducted searches in PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Scopus, and Google Scholar from inception until April 2021. All studies involving randomized controlled trials were included. Study quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) checklist specifically for randomized controlled trials.

RESULTS: The search identified 8,847 records. Of these, 20 studies were eligible for inclusion. Interventions using a PCE approach were largely successful. Contributing factors extracted from the included studies were underlying theories, instant reward system, dietary education, collaborative care, duration of intervention with systematic follow-ups, social support, adherence assessment method, and usage of e-health.

CONCLUSIONS: PCE is successful in achieving the desired outcomes in dyslipidemia management. Future studies may incorporate the elements of PCE to improve the management of dyslipidemia in hospital or community settings where appropriate.