Search

Objectives: This systematic review aims to investigate what is currently known about the characteristics of interactions between patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and their clinicians and its effect on patient outcomes., Data Sources: Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Communication Abstracts, Health & Society, Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts and PsycINFO were systematically searched from inception to June 2021., Study Eligibility Criteria: Peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in English investigating the characteristics of naturally occurring interactions between clinicians that manage IBD and patients with IBD during recorded consultations were included., Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods: Risk of bias was assessed using a specifically developed quality assessment tool, grounded in linguistic theory and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A narrative synthesis guided by the linguistic concept of metafunction was performed to synthesise the findings., Results: Of the 2883 abstracts reviewed five formed the basis of the review. Interactions between IBD nurses and patients have been mostly characterised in terms of information provision regarding prescribed medications without consideration of the interpersonal aspect. Discussing online medical information with nurses has been shown to improve patient satisfaction. Analyses of gastroenterologist-patient interactions have concentrated on the clinical relationship which has been shown to be disease-centred. Shared decision making in ulcerative colitis has been shown to be compromised due to lack of transparency regarding treatment goals., Limitations: This review did not include articles in languages other than English. Cumulative evidence could not be produced due to the small number of included studies and the diversity of contexts, theories and data types., Conclusions and Implications of Key Findings: There is a paucity of systematic research on naturally occurring clinical communication in IBD and its effect on outcomes. Further research needs to be done to address this knowledge gap., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42020169657., Competing Interests: Competing interests: NK has received grant and educational support from Janssen and Ferring. ARM and AL have received grant support from Janssen. RK has received research and educational support from Pfizer, Abbvie, Takeda and Janssen. AJW has received Honoraria and/or research support from Takeda, Ferring, Janssen, Pfizer and Abbvie. SJC has received honoraria for Advisory Board participation, speaker fees, educational support and/or research support from: Abbvie, Aspen, BMS, Celgene, Celltrion, Chiesi, DrFalk, Ferring, Fresenius Kabi, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Takeda, Vifor, Agency for Clinical Innovation, Gastroenterological Society of Australia, Medical Research Future Fund, The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust, South Western Sydney Local Health District., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: Evidence regarding effective communication between clinicians and patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is limited. Studies that investigate clinical communication in IBD are much fewer in number than studies that investigate the perceptions of patients and clinicians about communication in clinical encounters. The current review aims to identify, organise and summarise systematically what is currently known about (1) the characteristics of interactions between clinicians who manage IBD and patients with IBD, and (2) how clinical discussion affects health outcomes in IBD., Methods and Analysis: Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Communication Abstracts, Health & Society, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts and PsycINFO will be systematically searched for studies that investigate the characteristics of IBD clinical interactions during recorded consultations, from earliest available dates within each database to May 2020. A specifically developed quality assessment tool, grounded in linguistic theory, will be used to critically assess the evidence. In addition, a data extraction template will be developed and utilised to provide a description of the characteristics of IBD clinical communication as well as an estimation of its effect on health outcomes in a narrative synthesis., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical review and approval is not required for this systematic review as no primary data will be collected. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic conferences., Prospero Registration Number: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) on 28 April 2020 (registration number: CRD42020169657)., Competing Interests: Competing interests: NK, ARM and AL have received grant support from Janssen. RK has received research and educational support from Pfizer, Abbvie, Takeda and Janssen. AW has received Honoraria from Takeda, Ferring, Janssen and Abbvie. SC has received Honoraria, speaker fees, educational support and/or research support from AbbVie, Celgene, Ferring, Gilead, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Orphan/Aspen, Pfizer, Shire and Takeda., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)