Article

Continuing education is intended to facilitate clinicians' skills and
knowledge in areas of practice, such as administration and interpretation of
outcome measures.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term effect of continuing
education on prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome measures and their
perceptions of outcomes measurement in clinical practice. DESIGN: Pretest-posttest survey methods. METHODS:
A total of 66 prosthetists were
surveyed before, immediately after, and 2 years after outcomes measurement
education and training. Prosthetists were grouped as routine or non-routine
outcome measures users, based on experience reported prior to training. RESULTS:
On average, prosthetists were just as confident administering measures 1-2 years
after continuing education as they were immediately after continuing education.
In all, 20% of prosthetists, initially classified as non-routine users, were
subsequently classified as routine users at follow-up. Routine and non-routine
users' opinions differed on whether outcome measures contributed to efficient
patient evaluations (79.3% and 32.4%, respectively). Both routine and non-routine
users reported challenges integrating outcome measures into normal clinical
routines (20.7% and 45.9%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Continuing education had a
long-term impact on prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome measures
and may influence their clinical practices. However, remaining barriers to using
standardized measures need to be addressed to keep practitioners current with
evolving practice expectations. Clinical relevance Continuing education (CE) had
a significant long-term impact on prosthetists' confidence in administering
outcome measures and influenced their clinical practices. In all, approximately
20% of prosthetists, who previously were non-routine outcome measure users,
became routine users after CE. There remains a need to develop strategies to
integrate outcome measurement into routine clinical practice.

Langue : ANGLAIS