Rate of readmissions of patients with heart failure: effects of multifactorial educational interventions

We performed a systematic review of the literature to analyze the effect on readmission rates of multifactorial educational interventions at the moment of discharge from the hospital and telephone follow up for patients with heart failure. The quality of reports was analyzed using the CONSORT verification list and the GRADE guide. Using Rev Manager 5.3, the relative risk heterogeneity (RR) of readmission was assessed using I-2 and Q statistics, and those considered as homogeneous were combined into a single RR as the confidence interval. We included four reports in the review and three were meta-analyzed. The RR for readmission was 1.01 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73-1.40; p = 0.96) with educational interventions and telephone follow-up among patients who visited an emergency room (ER). When studies that included readmission (without ER visit) were combined, the RR was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.58-1.17). When studies with visits to ER and readmissions were combined, the RR was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.73-1.14). We conclude that educational interventions did not have a significant effect on the rate of readmissions of patients with heart failure.