Effect of a dementia education intervention on the confidence and attitudes of general practitioners in Australia: A pretest post-test study

Abstract

Objectives This study assessed the impact of a Dementia Education Workshop on the confidence and attitudes of general practitioner (GP) registrars (GPR) and GP supervisors (GPS) in relation to the early diagnosis and management of dementia. Design Pretest post-test research design. Setting Continuing medical education in Australia. Participants 332 GPR and 114 GPS. Interventions Registrars participated in a 3-hour face-to-face workshop while supervisors participated in a 2-hour-modified version designed to assist with the education and supervision of registrars. Main outcome measures The General Practitioners Confidence and Attitude Scale for Dementia was used to assess overall confidence, attitude to care and engagement. A t-test for paired samples was used to identify differences from preworkshop (T1) to postworkshop (T2) for each GP group. A t-test for independent samples was undertaken to ascertain differences between each workshop group. A Cohen's d was calculated to measure the effect size of any difference between T1 and T2 scores. Results Significant increases in scores were recorded for Confidence in Clinical Abilities, Attitude to Care and Engagement between pretest and post-test periods. GPR exhibited the greatest increase in scores for Confidence in Clinical Abilities and Engagement. Conclusions Targeted educational interventions can improve attitude, increase confidence and reduce negative attitudes towards engagement of participating GPs.