Abstract
Background
Self-management interventions may potentially delay kidney function decline and associated complications in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear.
Objectives
To investigate the effectiveness of current self-management interventions and their specific components in improving patient outcomes.
Method
Medline (including Medline in-process), Excerpta medica (EMBASE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) and all Evidence-based medicine (EBM) databases were systematically searched for randomised controlled studies comparing self-management interventions with usual care in patients with diabetes and CKD. Two reviewers independently assessed articles for eligibility and methodological quality using GRADE. Data was tabulated and narratively synthesised and meta-analyses were performed for outcomes with sufficient homogenous data.
Results
Of the 45 trials identified, 8 studies (835 patients) with a high risk of bias were eligible. There was moderate quality evidence that self-management interventions improved self-care behaviour (SMD 0.54, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.79, P < 0.0001) compared to usual care. There was low quality evidence that self-management interventions reduced systolic blood pressure (MD -4.26 mmHg, 95% CI -7.81 to -0.70, P=0.02) and HbA1c (MD -0.46%, 95% CI -0.83 to -0.09, P = 0.01) compared to usual care. Treatment effects were greater for interventions that included provider reminders, patient education and goal setting.
Conclusions
Self-management interventions improve self-care behaviours and may reduce systolic blood pressure and HbA1c in patients with diabetes and CKD. Self-management components associated with improved outcomes included provider reminders, patient education and goal setting provided in multidisciplinary settings. More evidence from high quality studies is required to support these findings.