Effectiveness of interprofessional simulation-based education programs to improve teamwork and communication for students in the healthcare profession: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Factors, such as the dynamic and variable structure of healthcare services, the introduction of new care models and technological developments, and requirements for patient safety, quality, and accreditation, require new content, goals, and models in the education and practice of health disciplines. Curriculum studies should be planned by today's requirements and competencies to be gained in interprofessional simulation-based education.This systematic review and meta-analysis study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of interprofessional simulation-based education programs for improving teamwork and communication among students in the healthcare profession.In this study, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Springer Link, Science Direct, Ovid, PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, EBSCOhost/CINAHL Complete, and MEDLINE databases were searched without year limitations until April 2022. Two independent researchers reviewed the studies and analyzed the data. Two researchers evaluated the methodological quality of the studies using the Cochrane Collaboration tool (RoB 2.0). This study was prepared in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) 3 software was used for meta-analysis.Eight randomized controlled trials conducted with 819 participants were included in this study. The evaluation of meta-analysis data showed that interprofessional simulation-based education programs significantly improved teamwork (Hedge's g = 0.41, p < 0.001, 95 % CI = 0.25 to 0.56) and communication (Hedge's g = 0.54, p < 0.001, 95 % CI = 0.26 to 0.82). The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that teamwork and communication were stable.Interprofessional simulation-based education programs seem to be an appropriate method for improving teamwork and communication among healthcare students. In the future, it is thought that there is a need to individualize interprofessional simulation-based education programs based on cultural differences and socio-demographic characteristics of healthcare students and to plan studies that examine long-term results.CRD42022325514 (PROSPERO).