Effectiveness of interventions involving nurses in secondary stroke prevention: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Among members of the health care team, nurses play a large role in actively engaging stroke survivors in secondary stroke prevention programs. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of interventions in which nurses have a primary role on modification of risk factors among stroke survivors.

METHODS

We systematically searched for randomized controlled trials in relevant databases investigating the role of nurses in secondary stroke prevention. Meta-analyses were conducted using Cochrane Review Manager Software. The mean pooled effect size, a 95% confidence interval (CI), and I-squared ( I2) for heterogeneity were calculated.

RESULTS

Sixteen randomized controlled trials were included with a total of 3568 stroke and transient ischemic attack patients. After removing one outlier, the models demonstrated a statistically significant effect on reducing systolic blood pressure (SMD = -0.14 (95% CI = -0.23, -0.05), I2 = 0%; p = 0.002, six studies, n =1885) and diastolic blood pressure (SMD = -0.16 (95% CI = -0.27, -0.05), I2 = 0%; p = 0.003, four studies, n =1316). The interventions also significantly improved physical activity (five studies, n=1234), diet (three studies, n=425), medication adherence (two studies, n=270), and knowledge of risk factors (three studies, n=516). However, there was no effect on smoking cessation or reduction in use of alcohol.

CONCLUSION

We found that interventions in which nurses had a primary role were effective on improving medical and behavioral risk factors, as well as knowledge of risk factors as part of secondary prevention of stroke.