MedWire News: Results from a US study show that an educational program designed specifically for pulmonary specialists improves adherence to osteoporosis management guidelines for patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Mark Simone (Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts) and colleagues developed the program because patients with asthma and COPD often do not receive appropriate screening, prevention, and treatment for osteoporosis, despite having an increased risk for the disease due to corticosteroid use.
The team initially carried out a needs assessment survey among 19 pulmonary specialists, the results of which guided the development of the educational program.
The final program included an interactive multimedia tool (virtual patient module), visual reminders (clinic posters), easy access information (pocket management cards), and performance data (individual physician report cards).
To assess its efficacy, Simone and team compared physician adherence to osteoporosis management guidelines in the 6 months before and after the intervention in 190 new and returning asthma or COPD patients, aged 50 years and older, who had been prescribed prolonged courses of oral or high-dose inhaled corticosteroids or both.
As reported in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society, the overall rate of adherence to the guidelines - including the use of vitamin D and calcium supplementation, treatment with pharmaceuticals, and bone density screening - increased from 45% before the intervention to 64% afterwards, equating to a significant 19% increase in adherence.
The researchers also detected gender-related differences in bone density screening. Specifically, physicians were less likely to screen men than women before the intervention (16% vs 58%, respectively). After the intervention, which addressed the need for osteoporosis management in both men and women, rates of bone health assessment were still lower in men than women (42% vs 77%), but the difference between the two genders was smaller.
Furthermore, physician test scores and postintervention surveys showed statistically significant gains in knowledge from baseline.
Simone and co-authors conclude that their "multimodal educational intervention effected a measurable change in provider knowledge, confidence, and performance in bone health screening and interventions for patients at risk for osteoporosis."
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