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Friday, November 13, 2009

Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial of Dissemination Strategies of an Online Quality Improvement Programme for Alcohol-related Disorders


This project investigated different dissemination strategies of an online quality improvement programme for alcohol-related disorders into routine care in South Baden and South Württemberg in Germany.

Two thousand six hundred and forty-seven practitioners were asked to take part in the study, and it was possible to randomize 112 (4%) practices. There were no significant differences concerning the use of the system between the groups: 41.9% of the GPs in the first group, 42.9% in the second group and 44.4% in the control group used the system. In terms of only the system users, 55.6% of the GPs in the first group, 33.3% in the second group and 8.3% in the control group used the system six times or more (P = 0.019). Diagnostic assessments made by the GPs in the groups differed substantially: 72.2% of diagnoses in the first group were correct, while this figure lay at 69.7% in the second group and 36.4% in the control group (P = 0.034)

No effect of the additional training on the primary outcome (acceptance) was identified, but on two of the secondary outcomes. Further cost-effectiveness studies should investigate whether the effort involved in providing training additionally to the system is justifiable.

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