Trial reportPloS one2018
A stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of nurse-delivered Teach-Back in a consumer telehealth service.
Trial report in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of Communication Interventions in Obstetrics-A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Interventions to Improve Health among Reproductive-Age Women of Low Health Literacy: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Using the teach-back method to improve postpartum maternal-infant health among women with limited maternal health literacy: a randomized controlled study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Trial
- Learning Teach-Back in clinical practice: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Article
- Artificial intelligence-assisted chatbot: impact on breastfeeding outcomes and maternal anxiety.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Improving Patient Health Literacy During Telehealth Visits Through Remote Teach-Back Methods Training for Family Medicine Residents: Pilot 2-Arm Cluster, Nonrandomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Development of Training Curriculum to Improve Patient Communication Skills and Social Support Among Community Health Workers.Health literacy research and practice · 2022Article
- Development, implementation, and evaluation of Teach Back curriculum for community health workers.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Influence of Puerperal Health Literacy on Tobacco Use during Pregnancy among Spanish Women: A Transversal Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the impact of Teach-Back on communication quality in a national telephone-based telehealth service, for callers varying in health literacy.
designCross-sectional stepped wedge cluster randomised trial with continuous recruitment, short (fixed) exposure and blinded outcome assessors. Nurses were stratified by hours worked and randomised into training groups using a computer generated sequence.
settingAn Australian national pregnancy and parenting telephone helpline.
interventionComplex intervention involving a single 2-hour group Teach-Back training session, combined with ongoing nurse self-reflection on their communication following each call and each shift.
participantsParticipants were 637 callers to the telephone helpline aged 18-75 (87% female), of whom 127 (13%) had inadequate health literacy (measured with the Single Item Literacy Screener); and 15 maternal and child health nurses with 15 years' experience on average. MEASURES: Primary outcome was a modified subscale of the Health Literacy Questionnaire, 'having sufficient information to manage health'. Secondary caller outcomes included caller confidence, perceived actionability of information and nurse effort to listen and understand. Nurse outcomes were perceptions of their communication effectiveness.
resultsOver a 7 week period, 376 surveyed callers received usual care and 261 Teach-Back. Ratings on the primary outcome increased over time (OR 1.17, CI 1.01 to 1.32, p = 0.03) but no independent Teach-Back effect was observed. A consistent pattern suggests that, compared with usual care, Teach-Back helps callers with inadequate health literacy feel listened to (OR 2.3, CI 0.98 to 5.42, p = 0.06), confident to act (OR 2.44, CI 1.00 to 5.98, p = 0.06), and know what steps to take (OR 2.68, CI 1.00 to 7.17, p = 0.06). Nurse perceptions of both their own communication effectiveness (OR = 2.31; CI 1.38 to 3.86, p<0.0001), and caller understanding (OR = 2.56; CI 1.52 to 4.30, p<0.001) both increased with Teach-Back. No harms were reported.
conclusionsTeach-Back appears to benefit telephone health service users with inadequate health literacy, but the extent of this is unclear due to smaller numbers of lower literacy participants. Improving caller ratings over time are likely due to increasing nurse communication competence.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.