Introduction: We sought to determine if interactive, case-based, online continuing medical education (CME) could improve the competence and confidence of diabetologists/endocrinologists (D/Es) and pediatricians related to T1D.

Methods: Educational design included a “test, then teach” approach to elicit cognitive dissonance, with evidence-based feedback provided following each learner response. A repeated pairs pre-/post-assessment study design and a McNemar’s test (P <.05 is considered significant) assessed educational effect, with Cohen’s d being used to assess educational impact (<0.2 modest effect, 0.2-0.49 small effect, 0.5-0.79 moderate effect and >0.8 extensive effect). Data collected April 24, 2023 through June 15, 2023.

Results: 102 D/Es and 168 pediatricians were included. Matched learner data indicate that overall 79% D/Es and 77% of pediatricians improved their competence from pre-to-post (both P<.001 with extensive overall impacts in both groups 1.12-1.29). 53% of D/Es (P<.001) and 49% of pediatricians (P<.001) improved at correctly staging a patient with T1D. 18% of D/Es (P<.001) and 35% of pediatricians (P<.001) improved at accurately treating a patient with stage 2 T1D. 44% of D/Es (P<.001) and 36% of pediatricians (P<.001) improved at identifying best practices for educating a patient with T1D. Overall, 50% of D/Es and 45% of pediatricians reported increased confidence in implementing new preventive treatment approaches for the management of early-stage T1D.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the success of interactive, case-based, online CME on improving competence and confidence of D/Es and pediatricians related to staging and comprehensively treating/delaying/preventing T1D. Case-based education with interactive polling questions and detailed explanations related to best choices should be employed more often to help clinicians apply guidelines into practice to improve patient care.

Disclosure

A. Larkin: None. A. Le: None.

Funding

Developed through an independent educational grant from Provention Bio, a Sanofi Company.

© 2024 by the American Diabetes Association
2024
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