Effect of an educative intervention on the clinical ability of physicians in the management of metabolic syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the effect of an educative intervention on the clinical ability of Family Physicians of two Family Units of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with metabolic syndrome.


METHODS
A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a control group using basal and final measurements. The educative intervention of the experiment group included one in-the-classroom work and another at the doctors' office. The instrument was validated by a panel of experts and included 140 items and five case-oriented problems, reaching a reliability index of 0.87.


RESULTS
. There was no significant difference at base measurement among the different levels of clinical ability between the two groups (p = 0.82), both the experimental and the control groups showed a higher frequency of medium level abilities (33.3 vs. 36.8% respectively). At the end of the follow-up, a significant increase in the experimental group (98 with 49-106 over 69 with 26-94) was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
The educative intervention utilized in this study improved the ability of Family Physicians to diagnose, treat an apply preventive measures in patients with metabolic syndrome.
Unidad de Investigación en Epidemiología Clínica, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, IMSS de Guadalajara, Jal. carlos.cabrera@imss.gob.mx
Carlos E
CE
Cabrera-Pivaral
Roberto
R
Anaya-Prado
Guillermo
G
González-Pérez
María Guadalupe
MG
Vega-López
Ninel Mayarí
NM
Centeno-López
D000047:Academies and Institutes; D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D019468:Disease Management; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000193:education*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012943:Social Security; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires