Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Studies of experimental or quasi-experimental design were eligible for inclusion if they used random sampling, had a control group, or involved manipulation of treatment.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of nursing interventions of patient education were eligible for inclusion. Studies of other nursing interventions were excluded. The interventions in the included studies were mainly carried out pre-operatively and focused on the pre-admission stage; fewer studies (20%) were carried out post-operatively and these focused on information, function, exercises, care and recovery. The majority of studies delivered interventions using a variety of different educational methods. Most studies did not describe the control intervention in detail but described it as 'usual', 'routine' or 'traditional care'.
Participants included in the review
Studies of adult surgical patients were eligible for inclusion. Studies of patients aged less than 18 years and patients with mental diseases were excluded. Most of the studies were of patients undergoing cardiac surgery; other types of surgery included orthopaedic, opthalmic, hernia, varicose, abdominal, breast cancer and general ambulatory surgery. The mean age of the patients was 59 years (based on 66% of studies).
Outcomes assessed in the review
Inclusion criteria for the outcomes were not specified. The included studies most commonly assessed experiential aspects (primarily anxiety and satisfaction), followed by cognition (primarily knowledge) and functionality (primarily exercise performance and regularity). The majority of the studies measured outcomes using questionnaires developed by the authors of the primary studies.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
One author selected studies for inclusion and discussed this with the other authors.