Characteristics of included studies (n = 20) and effects on quality of care
| Process/structure of care | Patient outcomes | |||||
| Not effective | Partly effective | Mostly effective | Not effective | Partly effective | Mostly effective | |
| Type of healthcare provider | ||||||
| General practitioners | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Medical specialists | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Other healthcare providers | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Type of guideline | ||||||
| National | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Regional/local | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Subject of study | ||||||
| Preventive care | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diagnosis and treatment | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Prevention/diagnosis and treatment | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Study design | ||||||
| Cluster RCT | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Controlled before and after study | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Interrupted time series design | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Uncontrolled before and after study | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Implementation strategy | ||||||
| Single | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Multifaceted | 2 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
RCT, randomised controlled trial.
Mostly effective, significant effect on more than half of the outcome measures was reported; not effective, no significant effect on any of the outcome measures was reported; partly effective, significant effect on half or less than half of the outcome measures was reported.