Aspects of Multicomponent Integrated Care Promote Sustained Improvement in Surrogate Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE The implementation of the Chronic Care Model (CCM) improves health care quality. We examined the sustained effectiveness of multicomponent integrated care in type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We searched PubMed and OvidMEDLINE (January 2000-August 2016) and identified randomized controlled trials comprising two or more quality improvement strategies from two or more domains (health system, health care providers, or patients) lasting ≥12 months with one or more clinical outcomes. Two reviewers extracted data and appraised the reporting quality. RESULTS In a meta-analysis of 181 trials (N = 135,112), random-effects modeling revealed pooledmean differences in HbA1c of20.28%(95%CI20.35 to20.21) (23.1mmol/mol [23.9 to 22.3]), in systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 22.3 mmHg (23.1 to 21.4), in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 21.1 mmHg (21.5 to 20.6), and in LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of 20.14 mmol/L (20.21 to 20.07), with greater effects in patients with LDL-C ≥3.4 mmol/L (20.31 vs. 20.10 mmol/L for <3.4 mmol/L; Pdifference = 0.013), studies from Asia (HbA1c 20.51% vs. 20.23% for North America [25.5 vs. 22.5 mmol/mol]; Pdifference = 0.046), and studies lasting >12 months (SBP 23.4 vs. 21.4 mmHg, Pdifference = 0.034; DBP 21.7 vs. 20.7 mmHg, Pdifference = 0.047; LDL-C 20.21 vs. 20.07 mmol/L for 12-month studies, Pdifference = 0.049). Patients with median age <60 years had greater HbA1c reduction (20.35% vs. 20.18% for ≥60 years [23.8 vs. 22.0 mmol/mol]; Pdifference = 0.029). Team change, patient education/self-management, and improved patient-provider communication had the largest effect sizes (0.28-0.36% [3.0-3.9 mmol/mol]). CONCLUSIONS Despite the small effect size of multicomponent integrated care (in part attenuated by good background care), team-based care with better information flow may improve patient-provider communication and self-management in patients who are young, with suboptimal control, and in low-resource settings.