Quality of home healthcare among Arab countries

OBJECTIVE: To examine the quality of home healthcare services provided and to systematically review publications concerning the quality of home healthcare in Arab countries. METHODS: In 2017, we conducted an online literature search to identify relevant published studies using the following electronic databases: Embase, CINAHL, PubMed, and the Cochrane library. First, we screened the publications according to titles. Second, we evaluated the titles and abstracts of the included publications. Third, we independently reviewed and assessed the full texts of the included publications. After the final selection, we extracted the following information from the full-text articles that met the inclusion criteria: author, year of publication, country, study design, number of participants, participant type, and the main findings. RESULTS: In total, 6 of 214 studies met the inclusion criteria. These 6 studies were published from 3 countries. The country with the most number of studies was Saudi Arabia (4 articles), followed by Jordan (one article) and Iraq (one article). We found that all studies were assessed according to 3 indicators, namely, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness, out of the 6 indicators of quality by the Institute of Medicine. CONCLUSION: This review shows a clear gap in the literature regarding the quality of home healthcare in Arab countries, emphasizing the need for more studies, particularly quality studies on timely, equitable, and patient-centered care in home healthcare settings.