Critical appraisal of continuing medical education in the rheumatic diseases for primary care physicians

✍ Scribed by Richard Glazier; Rachelle Buchbinder; Mary Bell

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 665 KB
• Volume: 38
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780380412

✦ Synopsis

Objective. To critically appraise evidence of the effectiveness of continuing medical education (CME) in rheumatic diseases for primary care physicians.

Methods. Three physicians independently applied preset criteria to evaluated CME interventions published between January 1966 and August 1993.

Results. Eight of 166 articles identified were critically appraised, 7 of which had positive results. Marked heterogeneity in educational interventions, evaluative methods, and outcomes was noted.

Conclusion. Despite generally positive results, weak methodology precludes drawing firm conclusions about the effectiveness of CME in rheumatic diseases.

Rheumatic diseases are among the most common causes of morbidity, disability, and health care utilization in the general adult population. Their impact on primary care is extremely high. In the United States, rheumatic diseases have been found to be the main reason for 9% of all physician visits (1) and for 11-13% of visits to office-based general and family physicians (2). Similar percentages have been found in primary care settings in a number of countries, irrespective of the health care system (3-7). Osteoarthritis and regional joint pain are the disorders most frequently encountered in the ambulatory setting (2-5,8),