Table 1 Search strategy and sources for the implementation review

Population

Studies were included if self-management support was delivered to populations with one or more of the exemplar long-term conditions (asthma, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia, depression, diabetes (Type 1 and 2), epilepsy, hypertension, inflammatory arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, stroke, low back pain, progressive neurological disease) selected for study in our overview of the literature [22].

Intervention

We included any implementation intervention which focused on, or incorporated, strategies to support self-management, and which were delivered as part of routine clinical service. Self-management support search terms included ‘confidence’, ‘self-efficacy’, ‘responsib*’, ‘autonom*’, ‘educat*’, ‘knowledge’, ‘(peer or patient) ADJ1 (support or group)’ and ‘(lifestyle or occupational) ADJ1 (intervention* or modification* or therapy)’ as well as relevant MeSH terms.

Comparator

Typically ‘usual care’, although definition of ‘usual care’ varied between trials. The nature of the control service was noted and accommodated within our analysis.

Outcomes

Use of healthcare services (including unscheduled use of healthcare services and hospital admission rates), health outcomes (including symptom control, biological markers of disease), and process outcomes (ownership of action plans, attendance at education sessions) and intermediary outcomes (self-efficacy).

Settings

Any healthcare setting: hospital (in-patient or out-patient), community or remote (for example, web based) settings.

Study design

Implementation studies [14, 15], including a range of methodologies: population level randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental prospective studies, retrospective controlled studies, interrupted time series, controlled before and after studies, case–control, uncontrolled before and after studies, and observational studies.

Databases

MEDLINE (1980 onwards), EMBASE (1974 onwards), CINAHL (1982 onwards), PsychINFO, AMED (1985 onwards), BNI, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects and ISI Proceedings (Web of Science).

Manual searching

Patient Education and Counseling, Health Education and Behaviour and Health Education Research.

Forward citations

A forward citation search was performed on all included papers using ISI Proceedings (Web of Science). The bibliographies of all eligible studies were scrutinised to identify additional possible studies.

Unpublished and in progress studies

UK Clinical Research Network Study Portfolio (www.clinicaltrials.gov) and the Meta Register of Controlled Trials (www.controlled-trials.com)

Other exclusion criteria

We excluded papers not published in English.