New educational approaches to the patient. A scoping review of systematic reviews

Introduction. New educational approaches are emerging to assist healthcare professionals in better personalizing patient’s educational pathways. Specifically, “gamification” – the incorporation of game elements into non-game contexts – appears to be a novel and affordable approach. This scoping review aims to explore and map the literature that evaluates the efficacy of gamification in healthcare contexts. Methods. A scoping review of reviews was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO using the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis guidelines and the PRISMA ScR checklist. Results. A total of four systematic reviews and four meta-analyses were included. It appears that gamification, when used in conjunction with other conventional educational tools, improves physical activity, facilitates better self-management of type 2 diabetes, improves cognitive functions, and improves the quality of life, particularly among specific groups like the elderly. Discussions. Gamification is an innovative educational approach that could be useful in patient’s educational pathways. However, it seems that gamification is effective only in particular subgroups, and therefore the generalization of the results should also be assessed with caution due to the high risk of bias in the included studies and the small sample sizes considered. Conclusion. More randomized controlled trials and meta-analysis studies should be conducted to better understand the role and efficacy of gamification in patient education.