Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33674916›Full record

SynthesisJournal of general internal medicine2021

Community Health Workers as Healthcare Navigators in Primary Care Chronic Disease Management: a Systematic Review.

Sabuj Kanti Mistry, Elizabeth Harris, Mark Harris

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of general internal medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
45citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

45 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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  11. Co-developing a community health worker-led hypertension control intervention in Peru through a human-centered design approach.Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Sabuj Kanti MistryCentre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. smitra411@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0001-6100-6076
Elizabeth HarrisCentre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Mark HarrisCentre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis review was carried out to synthesize the evidence of the effectiveness of community health worker (CHW) navigation in primary care chronic disease management.

methodsWe searched the English language literature between January 1990 and March 2020 in Medline, Embase, Emcare, PubMed, Psych Info, CINAHL, Scopus, and Medline Epub ahead of print. Data extraction, quality rating, and assessment of the reporting of interventions were performed by two reviewers independently and the findings were synthesized narratively.

resultsTwenty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria. All but two were carried out in the USA and half were randomized controlled trials. Six of the 29 studies were of strong methodological quality while 12 were moderate and 11 weak. Overall, CHW navigation interventions were effective in increasing adherence to cancer screening and improving use of primary care for chronic disease management. There was insufficient evidence that they improved clinical outcomes or risk factors and reduced use of secondary or tertiary care or that they were cost-effective. However, criteria for recruitment, duration, and mode of training and supervision arrangements varied greatly between studies. DISCUSSION: CHW navigation interventions improved aspects of chronic disease management. However, there is insufficient evidence of the impact on patient experience, clinical outcomes, or cost-effectiveness of the interventions. Future research should focus on standardizing organizational components of the CHW navigation interventions and evaluating their cost-effectiveness. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The review protocol was published in PROSPERO (CRD42020153921).

Indexed as

Community Health WorkersPrimary Health CareChronic DiseaseDelivery of Health CareHumansRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID33674916
PMCPMC8390732

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.