The effect of nurse-led care on fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled studies

Aims and objectives This study aimed to investigate the effect of nurse-led care on fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Background Evaluating the effect of nurse-led care on fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis will be useful in planning appropriate nursing interventions to increase the functional status and quality of life of patients. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods A comprehensive literature review was conducted on the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, EBSCOhost/CINAHL Complete, Springer Link, ProQuest, Science Direct and Ovid databases. The selected articles were examined by two independent ratters with the PICOS criteria, and the methodological quality of the studies included in the study was evaluated with the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. The Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3 software was used in the analysis of the data. The study was conducted using the checklist for PRISMA. Results This meta-analysis study included six of 1,445 randomised controlled trials. These six studies consisted of a total of 994 patients and provided education and psychosocial support through 30-minute to 2-hour consultations, visits and briefings. No significant publication bias was found in the main outcomes. According to the results of the meta-analysis, the fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis decreased significantly in nurse-led care groups compared with control groups (Hedge's g = -0.18; 95% CI = -0.3 to -0.06). Conclusions The findings in this systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that nurse-led care played an important role in reducing fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Relevance to clinical practice Nurse-led care is an effective and appropriate method in reducing fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The awareness of all health professionals about the importance of nurse-led care will increase. We recommend the implementation of nurse-led education and psychosocial support interventions to reduce the fatigue of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Automated summary

The study aimed to investigate the effect of nurse-led care on fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis through a systematic review and meta-analysis. The findings indicated that nurse-led care played an important role in reducing fatigue in these patients. Nurse-led care is recommended as an effective method to reduce fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and awareness among health professionals about its importance should be increased.