The 12 remaining studies across all musculoskeletal conditions showed little or no improvement in GP behaviour and patient outcomes .The direction of the targeted behaviour ( i.e. increasing or decreasing a behaviour ) does not seem to affect the effectiveness of an intervention .
There is good- quality evidence that a GP alerting system with or without patient-directed education on osteoporosis improves guideline -consistent GP behaviour , result ing in better diagnosis and treatment rates .
Interventions such as GP reminder messages and GP feedback on performance combined with guideline dissemination may lead to small improvements in guideline -consistent GP behaviour with regard to low back pain , while GP education on osteoarthritis pain and the use of educationally influential physicians may lead to slight improvement in patient outcomes and guideline -consistent behaviour respectively .
BACKGROUND Musculoskeletal conditions require particular management skills .
Identification of interventions which are effective in equipping general practitioners ( GPs ) with such necessary skills could translate to improved health outcomes for patients and reduced healthcare and societal costs .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effectiveness of professional interventions for GPs  that aim to improve the management of musculoskeletal conditions in primary care .
We investigated whether the direction of the targeted behavioural change affects the effectiveness of interventions .
Impact of a general practitioner educational intervention on osteoarthritis treatment in an elderly population.
PURPOSE We examined whether a continuing medical education intervention increased general practitioners ' ability to select the proper pharmacological treatment for patients with osteoarthritis . SUBJECTS AND METHODS Eight towns in Quebec , Canada were r and omly allocated to one of four intervention options , workshop and decision tree , workshop , decision tree , or no intervention .  All general practitioners practicing in each town were eligible to participate . We evaluated all dispensed prescriptions for either a  cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor , nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug or acetaminophen  written by eligible general practitioners between May 2000 and June 2001 to elderly patients suffering from osteoarthritis . We used a multi-level Bayesian hierarchical model to assess the impact of the interventions on prescription adequacy . RESULTS We analyzed 5318 dispensed prescriptions written by 249 general practitioners in the five-month preintervention period and 4610 dispensed prescriptions written by the same physicians in the five-month postintervention period . A score of zero or one was given to every prescription , with one indicating prescription adequacy according to guidelines provided during the interventions . Bayesian hierarchical models showed some improvement in scores in the post- versus preintervention periods in all four groups . The probability of an improvement in the towns allocated the workshop and decision tree over the control was 94 % , compared with 74 % in the workshop group and 55 % in the decision tree group . CONCLUSION An interactive approach offered by peers and complemented by easy to use guidelines may enhance the general practitioner 's ability to manage osteoarthritis patients
The 12 remaining studies across all musculoskeletal conditions showed little or no improvement in GP behaviour and patient outcomes .The direction of the targeted behaviour ( i.e. increasing or decreasing a behaviour ) does not seem to affect the effectiveness of an intervention .
There is good- quality evidence that a GP alerting system with or without patient-directed education on osteoporosis improves guideline -consistent GP behaviour , result ing in better diagnosis and treatment rates .
Interventions such as GP reminder messages and GP feedback on performance combined with guideline dissemination may lead to small improvements in guideline -consistent GP behaviour with regard to low back pain , while GP education on osteoarthritis pain and the use of educationally influential physicians may lead to slight improvement in patient outcomes and guideline -consistent behaviour respectively .
BACKGROUND Musculoskeletal conditions require particular management skills .
Identification of interventions which are effective in equipping general practitioners ( GPs ) with such necessary skills could translate to improved health outcomes for patients and reduced healthcare and societal costs .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effectiveness of professional interventions for GPs  that aim to improve the management of musculoskeletal conditions in primary care .
We investigated whether the direction of the targeted behavioural change affects the effectiveness of interventions .