EDUCATIONAL PACKAGE ON HYPERTENSION FOR PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIANS

Google Scholar
  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 130  (6) , 719-722
Abstract
The usefulness of an educational package on hypertension that provides clinically important, up-to-date medical information and office aids to primary care physicians was tested in a randomized controlled trial. Physicians (56) completed a pretest multiple-choice questionnaire and were allocated at random either to a group that received the educational package (the study group) or to a control group. There was a highly significant correlation between the pretest scores and the number of years since graduation (r = -0.55, P < 0.0001), which indicated that younger physicians are more likely than older physicians to have an up-to-date knowledge of the management of hypertension. The increase in knowledge in the study group (17.5%) was significantly greater than that in the control group (2.7%). Furthermore, although the post-test scores in the control group were still significantly correlated with the number of years since graduation, those in the study group were not. Although the older physicians knew less than their younger colleagues about hypertension, the use of the educational package significantly increased knowledge and the increase was not limited by the physician''s age.