Goal Setting and Health-Related Outcomes in Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature From 2000 to 2020

Abstract

Identifying and synthesizing recent empirical research on goal setting among adults with chronic disease is the focus of this article. The article has two phases: Phase 1, a thematic analysis with machine reading of the data and manual thematic analysis, and Phase 2, a quantitative meta-analysis. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies are included in Phase 1 (99 papers). Phase 2 includes only quantitative studies (75 papers). Five main themes are identified: (a) the effect of goal characteristics on health-related outcomes, (b) the effect of goal setting on health-related outcomes, (c) the effect of goal achievement on health-related outcomes, (d) goal alignment between patients and health care service providers, and (e) individual and collaborative goal setting of patients and health care service providers. The meta-analysis reveals considerable evidence of an association between goal setting and health-related outcomes.