Outcomes of an educational activity with Victorian GPs aimed at improving knowledge and practices in relation to sexually transmissible diseases.

OBJECTIVE

To measure the effect of a simple educational strategy for general practitioners (GPs) on their knowledge and self-reported practice in relation to sexually transmissible disease (STD) management.

METHOD

In 1995, we surveyed 520 Victorian GPs; 444 (85%) responded. A sub-sample of 242 was sent an educational package in relation to STD management that required them to reflect on their performance in the survey in relation to that of the sample as a whole. Two months after they had received the package, a brief follow-up questionnaire, using a selection of questions from the first survey, was sent to these GPs.

RESULTS

Practitioners showed statistically significant improvements in knowledge and self-reported practice for four of the six outcomes that were examined.

CONCLUSION

A relatively simple educational package for GPs had a high participation rate and resulted in improvements in knowledge and self-reported practice that could contribute to increased STD case finding in the general practice setting.

IMPLICATIONS

The key to enabling GPs to make a greater contribution to improved STD control is to encourage them to be more active in diagnosing and treating asymptomatic disease. For asymptomatic patients, sexual history-taking and selective screening are important skills but there are barriers to their implementation in the general practice setting. A key objective of GP educational programs in relation to STDs is to increase their likelihood of taking a sexual history and the significant increase in this measure for the whole sample was encouraging.