Objective To systematically assess the effectiveness of self-management during adjuvant treatment for breast cancer. Methods Through formulating the inclusion and exclusion criteria and the search strategy, such databases as The Cochrane Library, PubMed (1966 to 2010), OVID, ELSEVIER, CINAHL, EMbase, CNKI (1980 to 2010), WanFang Data, VIP (1989 to 2010) and CBM (1978 to 2010) were searched to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about postoperative self-management in breast cancer. Two reviewers evaluated the quality of the included studies, extracted and crosschecked the data; the Review Manager 5.0 software was used to perform the test for heterogeneity, and the cumulative effect was calculated with either fixed or random effects models. Results Among the included ten studies in English, three revealed that the program of self-management had no impact on the overall life quality of patients, three revealed that it could enhance the self-care ability of patients (P=0.004), three revealed that it could not reduce the anxiety level of patients, and two revealed that it had certain influence on the depression level of patients. Conclusion The program of self-management can enhance the patients’ self-care ability, but its influence on patients’ overall life quality as well as the level of anxiety and depression is still undefined.
Objective To systematically review the effectiveness of empowerment education in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods Databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 12, 2012), PubMed, Ovid, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, digital journals of the Chinese Medical Association and Google Scholar were electronically searched for the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on empowerment education in patients with type 2 diabetes from inception to January 2013. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results A total of seven RCTs involving 749 Type 2 diabetic patients were finally included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, compared with the control group, the empowerment education group was better in decreasing HbA1c levels, with a significant difference (MD= –0.27, 95%CI –0.51 to –0.03, P=0.03), but no significant difference was found between the two groups in improving body mass index (BMI) (MD= 0.25, 95%CI –1.07 to 1.57, P=0.71). Conclusion The program of empowerment education could improve HbA1c levels of diabetic patients, patients’ knowledge and illness attitudes on diabetes mellitus, but its influence on patients’ BMI, LDL and self-efficacy is still unclear.