The short-term impact of a continuing education program on pharmacists' knowledge and attitudes toward diabetes

Objectives. This study examined the short-term impact of a continuing education (CE) program on pharmacists' knowledge and attitudes toward diabetes. Methods. A constructive 7-hour CE program for enhancing the ability to perform pharmaceutical care for diabetic patients was conducted by the Taipei Pharmacists Association. The Diabetes Knowledge Test in Mandarin (DKT-M) with 10 items and the Diabetes Attitude Scale in Mandarin (DAS-M) with 37 items were employed to measure the efficacy of the program. Results. Pharmacists' mean scores on the DKT-M significantly increased from 4.89 ± 1.93 before the CE program to 7.72 ± 1.96 after the educational intervention (p <0.0001). The mean overall score and mean scores on 6 subscales on the DAS-M exceeded the neutral point of 3 before intervention, indicating positive attitudes toward diabetes. Nevertheless, their mean DAS-M score of 3.91 ± 0.30) significantly increased to 4.0 ± 0.28 after the intervention (p <0.0001), indicating highly positive attitudes toward diabetes. Conclusion. Although pharmacists already had positive attitudes toward diabetes, the CE program further improved their knowledge and attitudes toward the disease. Future studies of educational intervention using standardized instruments are needed to ensure and compare the efficacy of educational interventions for health care professionals.