Healthcare Practitioners’ Knowledge of Lymphedema
This article is part of Special Issue:
Hossein Yarmohammadi,
Amirhossein Rooddehghan,
Masood Soltanipur,
Amirabbas Sarafraz,
Seyed Fatah Mahdavi Anari,
Hossein Yarmohammadi
Medical Students Research Committee, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran shahed.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorAmirhossein Rooddehghan
Department of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran azad.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorMasood Soltanipur
Medical Students Research Committee, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran shahed.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorAmirabbas Sarafraz
Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, Saint Petersburg, Russia 1spbgmu.ru
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Seyed Fatah Mahdavi Anari
Department of Dermatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran sums.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorHossein Yarmohammadi,
Amirhossein Rooddehghan,
Masood Soltanipur,
Amirabbas Sarafraz,
Seyed Fatah Mahdavi Anari,
Hossein Yarmohammadi
Medical Students Research Committee, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran shahed.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorAmirhossein Rooddehghan
Department of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran azad.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorMasood Soltanipur
Medical Students Research Committee, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran shahed.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorAmirabbas Sarafraz
Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, Saint Petersburg, Russia 1spbgmu.ru
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Seyed Fatah Mahdavi Anari
Department of Dermatology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran sums.ac.ir
Search for more papers by this authorAcademic Editor: Bhagwan Satiani
Abstract
Objectives. Lymphedema is neglected in medical education, and a review on healthcare practitioners’ (HCPs) knowledge is necessary to shed light on gaps and to provide evidence for establishing educational programs on lymphedema. Methods. This systematic review was performed based on the PRISMA guideline in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. There was no limitation on the type of lymphedema or HCPs. The quality assessment was performed based on QATSDD. Data regarding study characteristics, questionnaire context, and findings of the study were summarized from each article. Results. After the screening, 16 articles were included that 12 were cross-sectional, two were qualitative, and two were interventional pilot studies. Breast cancer and other cancer-related lymphedema, lymphatic filariasis, and podoconiosis were included, and the majority of articles were focused on primary HCPs. The overall knowledge was low and average in five and 11 articles, respectively, and prior education was a significant factor related to higher knowledge of lymphedema in two studies. Conclusion. Structured education of lymphedema is needed to increase the knowledge of HCPs and to enhance their collaboration in multidisciplinary care teams. Improvement of HCPs’ knowledge may lead to better outcomes of lymphedema patients’ management which are neglected.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there was no conflict of interest.
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