The Need for Interprofessional Practice and Professional Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Dysphagia

Purpose: This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the status of interprofessional practice and professional development in health care providers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to dysphagia. Method: Seven electronic databases, in addition to Google Scholar, were searched. The search results were coded based on the inclusion criteria, and full-length articles were reviewed. The included studies were examined for methodological quality using the Integrated Quality Criteria for the Review of Multiple Study designs instrument. Data extraction involved synthesizing information related to participants, independent variable, methods used, type of intervention, dependent variables, and effect sizes for meta-analysis. Results: A total of eight studies met the inclusion criteria (i.e., three two-group design studies and five single-group pre–post studies). One of the findings shows that although the search strategy involved all health care professions, the results yielded only studies in nursing. The results of the group design studies revealed a large, but nonsignificant, overall effect across all outcome domains. The results of the knowledge subscale analysis revealed statistically significant results. The results of the single-group pre–post studies revealed an overall large, statistically significant effect. Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that professional education and training-related research in dysphagia were predominantly on nursing professionals. This study thereby emphasizes the need for research on effectiveness on interprofessional education for health care professionals in the area of dysphagia. Increased education and collaboration in this area can lead to better interprofessional practice in dysphagia management.