We examined whether a continuing medical education intervention increased general practitioners’ ability to select the proper pharmacological treatment for patients with osteoarthritis.

Eight towns in Quebec, Canada were randomly allocated to one of four intervention options, workshop and decision tree, workshop, decision tree, or no intervention. All general practitioners practicing in each town were eligible to participate. We evaluated all dispensed prescriptions for either a cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor, nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug or acetaminophen written by eligible general practitioners between May 2000 and June 2001 to elderly patients suffering from osteoarthritis. We used a multi-level Bayesian hierarchical model to assess the impact of the interventions on prescription adequacy.

We analyzed 5318 dispensed prescriptions written by 249 general practitioners in the five-month preintervention period and 4610 dispensed prescriptions written by the same physicians in the five-month postintervention period. A score of zero or one was given to every prescription, with one indicating prescription adequacy according to guidelines provided during the interventions. Bayesian hierarchical models showed some improvement in scores in the post- versus preintervention periods in all four groups. The probability of an improvement in the towns allocated the workshop and decision tree over the control was 94%, compared with 74% in the workshop group and 55% in the decision tree group.

An interactive approach offered by peers and complemented by easy to use guidelines may enhance the general practitioner’s ability to manage osteoarthritis patients.