A META-ANALYSIS OF EVALUATIONS OF THE EFFECT OF CONTINUING EDUCATION ON CLINICAL PRACTICE IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS.
Contributors: University of Pennsylvania.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 314
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The rapid expansion of continuing education in the health professions during recent decades has prompted numerous efforts to evaluate whether such activities change clinical performance. The purpose of this study was to review, integrate, and synthesize the population of studies reporting the effect of continuing education on the clinical behaviors of physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and physical and occupational therapists to determine whether continuing education significantly affects clinical practice. In addition, this study sought to describe the characteristics of continuing education participants and programs and to determine those factors related to the strongest effects.

Synthesis of 79 studies, reported between 1966 and 1985, was achieved using the methods of meta-analysis. Two sub-samples of studies were created based on the validity of the research design. The probabilities for 57 studies which reported pre-test/post-test results were combined using the Stouffer method of adding z's (z = 16.30, p $<$.0001). Similar synthesis of 39 studies which reported experimental versus comparison group findings resulted in a z value of 11.06 (p = $<$.0001). The effect of continuing education on behavioral change can thus be inferred to be highly significant.

Attempts to determine what proportion of the variance can be accounted for by specific factors were limited by unequal sample size in the sub-categories of the independent variables of concern, uneven reporting of descriptive information on these variables, and the lack of statistical information required for more sophisticated meta-analysis.

Recommendations include the need to provide more detailed relevant information about subjects and interventions and to adhere more consistently to accepted standards of scientific reporting in health professions evaluation.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-09, Section: A, page: 2491.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1988.

School code: 0175.