Background: Chronic disorders are highly prevalent and are a major contributor to death and disability worldwide. Evidence has shown that therapeutic patient education (TPE) interventions are effective in improving a range of biomedical and psychological outcomes for a variety of chronic disorders. This has been demonstrated in scores of randomized controlled and evidence-synthesis studies. However, no quantitative evidence has been published so far on the content and effective teaching strategies in TPE programs. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aim to bridge this gap by answering the who, what, and how of TPE programs.

Methods: Using a pretested search strategy, we searched the Web of Science, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the COCHRANE databases, from inception to August 2019. The search strategy was based on four comprehensive search concepts (patient education, chronic diseases, study design, and outcomes). After a careful screening for eligible studies, two reviewers extracted qualitative and quantitative data from the randomized controlled trials on the TPE interventions. We also developed a taxonomy of curriculum skills and intervention delivery techniques to aid the extraction of data in these domains.

Results: We found that these interventions were effective in improving biological outcomes (SMD = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.38–0.57), adherence to the treatment regimen (SMD = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.46–1.002), knowledge (SMD = 1.22; 95% CI: 0.79–1.65), self-efficacy (SMD = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.30–0.56), and psychological health (SMD = −0.41; 95% CI: −0.53 to −0.29). This effectiveness was consistent across different delivery formats (individual, group, and electronic) and delivery agents (non-specialists vs. specialists).

Conclusion: The flexibility in the choice of mode of delivery and curriculum development gives stakeholders an opportunity to scale up TPE interventions in healthcare settings.