title: Systematic review of educational interventions for ostomates.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stoma-related complications lead to increased hospital length of stay and readmissions. Although education of new ostomates is widely recommended, there is a lack of data regarding effective evidence-based educational interventions to prevent or decrease these complications.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature for educational interventions for new ostomates designed to decrease stoma-related complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed was searched for studies on educational interventions for new ostomates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Studies were included if they were in English, targeted adult stoma patients, and evaluated an educational intervention at the time of stoma creation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Educational interventions were performed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The outcomes of interest were length of stay, complications, and readmissions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found 1706 articles of which 7 met the inclusion criteria. Two were randomized controlled trials, and the rest were cohort studies. The overall quality of the studies was low. Each study used a unique intervention. However, all incorporated a specialized colorectal or ostomy nurse. Of the 5 studies that evaluated length of stay, 2 found a reduction in length of stay associated with the intervention, but 3 found no difference. Two studies found a reduction in complications, but 2 found no difference. Of the 3 studies that evaluated readmissions, none found a difference in the intervention group compared with the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is limited by the search of a single database and the inclusion of only English language studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Education is a key component of patient care; however, evidence to support an improvement in clinical outcomes is lacking. Further study is needed by the use of rigorous designs to craft a feasible educational intervention that will lead to improved patient care and outcomes.
authors.affiliation: 1University of Texas Health Science Center, Department of General Surgery, Houston, Texas 2Center for Surgical Trials and Evidence-Based Practice, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas 3Baylor College of Medicine, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Houston, Texas 4University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Surgical Oncology, Houston, Texas 5Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Uma R
authors.initials: UR
authors.lastname: Phatak
authors.forename: Linda T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Burzeen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Karanjawala
authors.forename: George J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Lillian S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D004766:Enterostomy; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome