Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is evidence that multidisciplinary teams can improve health outcomes for patients with chronic conditions, enhance the quality and coordination of care, and promote teamwork among staff in hospital settings. However, their effectiveness in non-hospital settings remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effects of multidisciplinary teams on patients with chronic conditions, health professionals, and healthcare in non-hospital settings. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, EconLit, OpenGrey, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and WanFang for randomised controlled trials published before March 2025. Narrative syntheses were used to synthesise the characteristics of multidisciplinary teams, interventions, and effects. Data were statistically pooled using both random-effects and fixed-effects meta-analyses to synthesize the outcomes. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. RESULTS: Thirty-nine studies were analyzed, with a total of 8186 participants. Nurses, general practitioners, and specialists were the most common members of the multidisciplinary teams. Staffing models, shared care and role expansion or task shifting are the most common multidisciplinary teamwork interventions. Narrative syntheses revealed improvements in self-management, self-efficiency, satisfaction, health behaviours, and knowledge. A meta-analysis found a significant reduction in hospitalisation days for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (MD=-0.66, 95% CI -1.05 to -0.26, I(2) = 0%) and significant improvement in quality of life for patients with chronic heart failure (MD=-4.63, 95% CI: -8.67 to -0.60, I(2) = 0%). There is no consistent evidence of other indicators of this effect. CONCLUSIONS: Multidisciplinary teamwork can improve patient-reported outcomes for patients with chronic conditions in non-hospital settings, but the effects on clinical outcomes, health utilisation, and costs are not evident. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study protocol was registered with PROSPERO on January 21, 2019, with the registration number CRD42019121109.