Randomized controlled trial of general practitioner tutor visit or mailing to encourage general practice-based education.

摘要

OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of a general practitioner tutor visit, or mailing, with regard to the amount of practice-based education occurring in general practices. DESIGN: An initial survey of all practices in the Mersey Deanery was undertaken. General practices which replied were randomly allocated to receive a GP tutor visit (n=38), to receive a mailing (n=38) or to a control group (n=36). Visits carried out by tutors covered a loosely agreed format. All practices were sent a follow-up survey identical to the original one at 6 months after the intervention. SETTING: General practices in the Mersey Deanery, north-west England. SUBJECTS: General practices which had replied to an initial survey. RESULTS: The amount of both specifically arranged and informal practice-based meetings increased in all groups. No changes were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study illustrates the difficulty of assessing educational interventions by randomized controlled trials. Such interventions are often expensive, complex and difficult to standardize. A substantial amount of practice-based education is taking place.