Success of CME at Improving Physicians’ Knowledge of LAIs for Bipolar Disorder

Introduction: We sought to determine whether continuing medical education (CME) improves knowledge regarding bipolar disorder (BPD) and its treatment with the use of long acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs).

Methods: The CME activity consisted of an online video discussion between two leading experts in BPD. Participants completed a 4-question survey before and after the activity to identify changes to knowledge, competence or confidence. Survey data were collected from March 26, 2018-May 7, 2018.
A repeated pairs pre-assessment/post-assessment study design was used. The analysis included:

•    A paired, 2-tailed t-test to assess differences between mean pre- to post-assessment scores

•    McNemar’s test assessed differences from pre- to post-assessment; P<.05 are statistically significant

•    Cramer’s V to determine effect size (V≥.16 is considerable)

Results: Psychiatrists (n=911) and primary care physicians (PCPs) (n=166) improved in several specific topic areas including (data expressed as % correct pre-assessment vs % correct post-assessment; all P<.001):

•    Recognizing approved LAIs for BPD (40% vs 71% of psychiatrists and 23% vs 51% of PCPs)

•    Identifying the most common psychiatric comorbidity in patients with BPD (29% vs 59% of psychiatrists and 26% vs 53% of PCPs)

•    Total average confidence shift = 16.8% in psychiatrists and 29.4% in PCPs

The educational effect size was considerable on participants' ability to choose correct responses (psychiatrists: V= 0.218; PCPs: V= 0.188).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that a well-designed online CME initiative can have a positive effect on both psychiatrists and PCPs, resulting in significant improvements in clinical knowledge seen in both audiences.