title: Prosthetists' perceptions and use of outcome measures in clinical practice: Long-term effects of focused continuing education.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Continuing education is intended to facilitate clinicians' skills and knowledge in areas of practice, such as administration and interpretation of outcome measures.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the long-term effect of continuing education on prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome measures and their perceptions of outcomes measurement in clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pretest-posttest survey methods.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 66 prosthetists were surveyed before, immediately after, and 2 years after outcomes measurement education and training. Prosthetists were grouped as routine or non-routine outcome measures users, based on experience reported prior to training.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On average, prosthetists were just as confident administering measures 1-2 years after continuing education as they were immediately after continuing education. In all, 20% of prosthetists, initially classified as non-routine users, were subsequently classified as routine users at follow-up. Routine and non-routine users' opinions differed on whether outcome measures contributed to efficient patient evaluations (79.3% and 32.4%, respectively). Both routine and non-routine users reported challenges integrating outcome measures into normal clinical routines (20.7% and 45.9%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Continuing education had a long-term impact on prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome measures and may influence their clinical practices. However, remaining barriers to using standardized measures need to be addressed to keep practitioners current with evolving practice expectations. Clinical relevance Continuing education (CE) had a significant long-term impact on prosthetists' confidence in administering outcome measures and influenced their clinical practices. In all, approximately 20% of prosthetists, who previously were non-routine outcome measure users, became routine users after CE. There remains a need to develop strategies to integrate outcome measurement into routine clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: 1 University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Hafner
authors.affiliation: 1 University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Spaulding
authors.affiliation: 1 University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Rana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salem
authors.affiliation: 1 University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Sara J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.affiliation: 2 Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gaunaurd
authors.affiliation: 2 Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, Miami, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gailey
mesh_terms: D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004496:Education, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Allied health occupations; attitudes; education; follow-up studies; health knowledge; practice; professional education; prosthetics; qualitative methods; study design; surveys and questionnaires