Implementing continuing education strategies for family physicians to enhance asthma patients’ quality of life

The goal of the study was to provide asthma-related continuing medical education (CME) to family physicians with the objective of improving patient outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental design in a single community, the intervention included academic detailing, a case-based workshop, newsletters, medical grand rounds, and patient-centered education materials. Outcome measures included physician participation in CME; patient self-reported quality of life, asthma knowledge, asthma self-management, medication use, and health service utilization before and after the intervention; and physician feedback. The results indicated that 78% of family physicians participated in one or more of the CME activities. The majority of physicians provided positive feedback on the use of the intervention both from their own and their patients' perspectives. Academic detailing increased the involvement of physicians in CME. There was a statistically significant improvement in patients' quality of life, whereas changes in patients' knowledge, behavior, and health service use were positive but not statistically significant. Methodological factors are identified that could improve the effectiveness of future studies.