Feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of young people-specific, integrated out-of-hospital services: a protocol for a systematic review

BACKGROUND: The need for specific services for young people is being widely recognized to address their unique and complex health needs. Growing evidence in integrated health services shows promise in improving the efficiency of health systems. Although there is a broad agreement on the need for integrated care in young people, there has been no systematic effort to evaluate the provision of integrated out-of-hospital health services for this group. The proposed systematic review aims to assess the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of young people-specific integrated out-of-hospital services. METHODS: We will search the following databases using a systematic search strategy: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Plus, and CENTRAL for articles published in the English language without applying date filters. The search will be supplemented with article search from systematic reviews of relevant topics, reference lists, and citations of included studies. Eligible studies will include peer-reviewed publications reporting on the evaluation of integrated out-of-hospital health services for young people (10–24 years) regarding effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability. Two reviewers (AP and AA) will independently carry out study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment. Study findings will be summarized in a narrative review. Wherever possible, evidence synthesis of quantitative data will be done using forest plots and pooled estimates. DISCUSSION: This review aims to provide comprehensive evidence regarding young people-specific integrated out-of-hospital health services. Such rigorously evaluated evidence will be useful for policy makers and health professionals to design and select health services for this group. This review will also identify any evidence gaps in young people-specific integrated health services evaluation. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42017068836 ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13643-019-0993-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.