Comparative Effectiveness of Educational Interventions in Neurological Disease for Healthcare Workers and Students: A Systematic Review
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BMJ Publishing Group
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess the comparative effectiveness of educational interventions in neurological disease for healthcare workers and students. DESIGN: Systematic review. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase and Cochrane through to 1 June 2025. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies evaluating neurological disease educational interventions with a comparator group (observational cohort/randomised controlled trial (RCT)) were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-compliant systematic review was conducted (PROSPERO: CRD42023461838). Knowledge acquisition and educational methodologies were collected from each study. Study outcomes were classified using the Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick four-level model (learner reaction, knowledge acquisition, behavioural change, clinical outcome).1 Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for non-randomised studies and the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for RCTs.2 3 RESULTS: A total of 67 studies involving 4728 participants were included. Of these, 36 were RCTs, and 31 were observational studies. Virtual interventions were the most common (67.2%, n=45 studies), primarily targeting either medical students (46.3%, n=31 studies) or specialists (40.3%, n=27 studies). Overall, 70.1% (n=47) of studies demonstrated outcomes in favour of the intervention. However, few studies used K&K level 3/4 outcomes, with two studies evaluating behaviour change (level 3) and three assessing clinical outcomes (level 4 combined with other levels). No study exclusively assessed level 4 outcomes. Meta-analysis of 22 RCTs with calculable standardised mean differences (SMDs) (n=1748) showed a significant benefit of interventions (SMD 0.75, 95% CI 0.22 to 1.27, p=0.0056). CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights a growing body of research particularly focusing on virtual techniques, specialist audiences and treatment-oriented content. Few studies assessed changes in practice or patient care. Non-specialists remain underrepresented. Future studies should prioritise assessing the clinical impact of educational interventions within non-specialist audiences.Description
Keywords
Health Education, MEDICAL EDUCATION & TRAINING, Neurology, Neurosurgery, 4203 Health Services and Systems, 42 Health Sciences, Clinical Trials and Supportive Activities, Comparative Effectiveness Research, Clinical Research, Health Services, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1199 Other Medical and Health Sciences, 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences, 42 Health sciences, 52 Psychology
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BMJ Open, ISSN: 2044-6055 (Print); 2044-6055 (Online), BMJ Publishing Group, 15(11), e107475-. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-107475
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© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ Group. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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