Introduction:
Demonstrating the effectiveness of the rapidly expanding field of electronic continuing education (e-ce) has important implications for ce in the health professions. this study provides an update on evidence from randomized controlled trials (rcts) assessing the effectiveness of e-ce in the health professions.
Methods:
A literature search of rcts was performed in medline, embase, and cinahl from 2004 to 2007. papers were reviewed separately by 2 of the authors and results were categorized and reviewed according to study comparisons.
Results:
Fifteen studies met our inclusion criteria. six compared e-ce to no intervention or placebo. of these 6 studies, 4 showed a statistically significant advantage of the e-ce intervention and 2 showed no significant effect. two studies compared e-ce to a lecture. of these, 1 showed an advantage of e-ce and 1 showed no difference. two studies compared e-ce to a small-group interactive intervention. in both studies, the e-ce group outperformed the control. two studies compared a multicomponent e-ce intervention to one based on flat text, and both showed the multicomponent intervention to be more effective. two of the 15 studies demonstrated a statistically significant effect on practice patterns. positive effects of e-ce on knowledge were shown to persist for up to 12 months and effects on practice up to 5 months.
Discussion:
Overall, these studies suggest that multicomponent e-ce interventions can be effective in changing health professionals' practice patterns, and improve their knowledge. e-ce interventions based purely on flat text appear to be of limited effectiveness in changing either knowledge or practice. these results support the use of multicomponent e-ce as a method of ce delivery.