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Effectiveness of traditional lectures and case methods in Swedish general practitioners’ continuing medical education about COPD: a cluster randomised controlled trial

Authors :
Ingvar Krakau
Hanna Sandelowsky
Anna Nager
Sven-Erik Johansson
Sonja Modin
Björn Ställberg
Source :
BMJ Open
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
BMJ, 2018.

Abstract

ObjectivesTo study the effects of continuing medical education (CME) about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for general practitioners (GPs) by comparing two commonly used CME methods with each other and no CME (reference group).DesignA pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial with primary healthcare centres (PHCCs) as units of randomisation.Setting, participants and interventions24 PHCCs in Stockholm County, Sweden, were randomised into two CME intervention arms: case method learning (CM) (n=12) and traditional lectures (TL) (n=12). A reference group without CME (n=11) was recruited separately. GPs (n=255) participated in the study arm to which their PHCC was allocated: CM, n=87; TL, n=93; and reference, n=75. Two 2-hour CME seminars were given in a period of 3 months.Primary outcome measuresChanges in scores between baseline and 12 months on a 13-item questionnaire about evidence-based COPD management (0–2 points/question, maximum total score 26 points).Results133 (52%) GPs completed the questionnaire both at baseline and 12 months. Both CM and TL resulted in small yet significantly higher total scores at 12 months than at baseline (CM, 10.34 vs 11.44; TL, 10.21 vs 10.91; pConclusionsNeither short CM nor short TL CME sessions substantially improve GPs’ skills in managing COPD. It is justified to challenge the use of these common CME methods as a strategy for improving GPs’ level of knowledge about management of COPD and other complex chronic diseases characterised by multimorbidity.Trial registration numberNCT02213809; Results.

Details

ISSN :
20446055
Volume :
8
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
BMJ Open
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....9c5022f303bd6e6fd6570d8693982e24
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-021982