The impact of education and training on LGBT-specific health issues for healthcare students and professionals: systematic review of comparative studies

Sarah Damery*, Adekemi O Sekoni, Ameeta Retzer, Ifeoma Okafor, Bibiane Manga-Atangana, Rachel Posaner, Nicola Gale, Kate Jolly

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

11 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objectives: Training/education is increasingly used to improve healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitudes and clinical skills about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) health but few reviews have assessed their effectiveness. This review describes the impact of training about LGBT healthcare for healthcare professionals on participants’ knowledge, attitudes and clinical practice.

Design: Systematic review of intervention studies with contemporaneous comparators.

Data sources: Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SSCI, ERIC, Cochrane Library, University of York CRD, PROSPERO and Ethos e-thesis database were searched from 15/12/2015 to 29/11/2023 to update a review published in 2017.

Eligibility criteria: Interventional studies of training/education for healthcare professionals or students about LGBT-specific health issues, compared to standard or no training/education. Outcomes were changes in participants’ knowledge, attitudes or clinical practice regarding LGBT health.

Data extraction and synthesis: Reviewer pairs independently screened titles/abstracts and full texts. Data were extracted by one reviewer and checked by a second (population, training content, development, delivery, duration/intensity and outcomes). The NIH tool for controlled intervention studies assessed study quality. Synthesis was descriptive.

Results: 11,734 citations were screened and 10 studies included. 8/10 were published since 2019. Study quality was poor (8/10) or fair (2/10) and all were conducted in high income countries. Four focused on transgender care. All studies used multi-component approaches, with topics covering terminology, lived experience, LGBT-specific health, sexuality and sexual history taking. Training duration ranged from 40 minutes to 50+ hours. Five studies included LGBT individuals in training development and/or delivery. 7/7 studies assessing attitudes, 2/4 studies assessing knowledge and 4/6 studies assessing skills/practice (actual or intended) reported statistically significant improvements.

Conclusions: Multi-component healthcare professional training on LGBT health can significantly improve participants’ knowledge, attitudes and skills. However, there was substantial heterogeneity in training content, delivery and duration and most studies were poor quality.

PROSPERO registration: CRD42023414431 (26/06/2023).
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere090005
Number of pages9
JournalBMJ open
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jan 2025

Bibliographical note

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.

Keywords

  • Humans
  • Sexual and Gender Minorities
  • Health Personnel/education
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • Clinical Competence

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The impact of education and training on LGBT-specific health issues for healthcare students and professionals: systematic review of comparative studies'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this