Impact of educational outreach intervention on enhancing health care providers' knowledge about statin therapy prescribing in Malaysian patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Mohamed Hassan Elnaem, Mohamad Haniki Nik Mohamed, Hasniza Zaman Huri, Shah M Azarisman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Rationale
Previous research reported underutilization of statin therapy among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Improving health care providers' awareness and understanding of the benefits and risks of statin treatment could be of assistance in optimizing the statin prescribing process.

Aims and Objectives
This study aimed to assess health care providers' knowledge related to statin therapy and the impact of educational outreach intervention based on the perceived knowledge.

Methods
This was a cross-sectional study based on educational outreach intervention targeting physicians and pharmacists in 1 major tertiary hospital in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. Participants responded to a 12-item, validated questionnaire both prior to and after the outreach educational program. Two sessions were conducted separately for 2 cohorts of pharmacists and physicians. The knowledge scores prior to and after the educational intervention were calculated and compared using a paired-samples t-test.

Results
The response rate to both pre-and post-educational outreach questionnaires was 91% (40/44). Prior to the intervention, around 84% (n37) of the participants decided to initiate statin therapy for both pre-assessment clinical case scenarios; however, only 27% (n12) could state the clinical benefits of statin therapy. Forty-five percent (n20) could state the drug to drug interactions, and 52.3% (n23) could identify the statin therapy that can be given at any time day/evening. The educational outreach program increased participants' knowledge scores of 1.450 (95% CI, 0.918 to 1.982) point, P < .0005, which is statistically significant. Forty respondents (91%) were of the opinion that statin side effects are the most common cause of treatment discontinuation.

Conclusion
This work demonstrated the impact of an educational outreach intervention on improving health care providers' knowledge and beliefs about statin therapy. This type of intervention is considered effective for short-term knowledge enhancement. Further research is needed to test the long-term efficacy of such intervention.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)521-527
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice
Volume24
Issue number3
Early online date6 Mar 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - 1 Jun 2018

Keywords

  • knowledge
  • Malaysia
  • prescribing
  • statin therapy
  • type 2 diabetes mellitus

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