Guidelines do help change behavior in the management of osteoporosis by gastroenterologists.
OBJECTIVE
The American College of Gastroenterology supported the development of evidence-based guidelines for the management of osteoporosis in inflammatory bowel disease. Our aim was to determine the short-term impact of the guidelines on practice patterns.


METHODS
Two hundred clinicians were surveyed prior to and 3 and 6 months after the guidelines were disseminated. The number of bone density scans ordered by these physicians was also determined before and 3 and 6 months after guidelines were distributed.


RESULTS
At the end of 3 months, only 20% of subjects admitted to having read the guidelines. There was a significant number of subjects who felt more comfortable treating osteoporosis (20%vs 10% prior to dissemination of the guidelines [p</= 0.05]). There was a 150% increase in the number of bone density scans ordered during that time by these 40 practitioners. After 6 months, another 15% for a total of 35% of subjects had read the guidelines. The number of subjects who were comfortable treating osteoporosis increased to 25% from 10% (p < 0.001). The number of bone density scans increased by 100% in these practices.


CONCLUSIONS
Although a minority of subjects read the guidelines, there was a significant impact on the short-term practice patterns of these practitioners.
Kane
Sunanda
S
Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
Reddy
Deepa
D
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015519:Bone Density; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005762:Gastroenterology; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*