Abstract
Purpose :
Many clinicians are unaware of available uveitis treatment options, leading to inappropriate treatment strategies and suboptimal patient outcomes. We sought to determine if continuing medical education (CME) can improve physician knowledge of the diagnosis and treatment of noninfectious uveitis.
Methods :
The CME activity consisted of an online, 30-mimute video roundtable discussion among leading experts in noninfectious uveitis, with synchronized slides. A repeated pairs pre-/post-assessment study design was used to determine the effect of education. Participants completed a 4-question case-based assessment, presented before and after the activity, to identify changes to knowledge, competence or confidence. Data analysis included:
-A paired, 2-tailed t-test to assess differences between mean pre- and post-assessment scores
-A Chi-square Test of Independence to determine if a statistically significant improvement (5% significance level, P <.05) exists in the number -of correct responses from the pre- to the post-assessment scores.
-Cramer’s V to determine effect size
Assessment data were collected from December 14, 2016, through January 18, 2017.
Results :
Ophthalmologists (n=620) improved their understanding and competence in several topic areas including (% correct pre-assessment vs % correct post-assessment; all P<.001):
Individual components of the recommended initial diagnostic workup for noninfectious uveitis (59% vs 69%)
Application of the stepladder algorithm for the pharmacologic management of noninfectious uveitis (29% vs 48% )
Optimal therapies for the long-term treatment of noninfectious uveitis (34% vs 76% )
Overall, the educational effect size was medium (V= 0.241), indicating a noticeable effect on participants' knowledge and competence. In addition, 25% reported greater confidence in their ability to recognize noninfectious uveitis following the education.
Conclusions :
This study demonstrates that a well-designed online CME activity, in the form of a 30-minute panel discussion with synchronized slides, can result in significant improvements (P <.05) in clinical knowledge, competence, and confidence of ophthalmologists.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.