Background Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for physicians to maintain and enhance their knowledge, competence, skills, and performance. Web-based CPD plays an essential role. However, validated theory–informed measures of their impact are lacking. The CPD-REACTION questionnaire is a validated theory–informed tool that evaluates the impact of CPD activities on clinicians’ behavioral intentions. Objective We aimed to review the use of the CPD-REACTION questionnaire, which measures the impact of CPD activities on health professionals’ intentions to change clinical behavior. We examined CPD activity characteristics, ranges of intention, mean scores, score distributions, and psychometric properties. Methods We conducted a systematic review informed by the Cochrane review methodology. We searched 8 databases from January 1, 2014, to April 20, 2021. Gray literature was identified using Google Scholar and Research Gate. Eligibility criteria included all health care professionals, any study design, and participants’ completion of the CPD-REACTION questionnaire either before, after, or before and after a CPD activity. Study selection, data extraction, and study quality evaluation were independently performed by 2 reviewers. We extracted data on characteristics of studies, the CPD activity (eg, targeted clinical behavior and format), and CPD-REACTION use. We used the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool to evaluate the methodological quality of the studies. Data extracted were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Student t test (2-tailed) for bivariate analysis. The results are presented as a narrative synthesis reported according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Results Overall, 65 citations were eligible and referred to 52 primary studies. The number of primary studies reporting the use of CPD-REACTION has increased continuously since 2014 from 1 to 16 publications per year (2021). It is available in English, French, Spanish, and Dutch. Most of the studies were conducted in Canada (30/52, 58%). Furthermore, 40 different clinical behaviors were identified. The most common CPD format was e-learning (34/52, 65%). The original version of the CPD-REACTION questionnaire was used in 31 of 52 studies, and an adapted version in 18 of 52 studies. In addition, 31% (16/52) of the studies measured both the pre- and postintervention scores. In 22 studies, CPD providers were university-based. Most studies targeted interprofessional groups of health professionals (31/52, 60%). Conclusions The use of CPD-REACTION has increased rapidly and across a wide range of clinical behaviors and formats, including a web-based format. Further research should investigate the most effective way to adapt the CPD-REACTION questionnaire to a variety of clinical behaviors and contexts. Trial Registration PROSPERO CRD42018116492; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=116492

Background Continuing professional development (CPD) for health professionals includes educational activities to maintain or improve skills. We evaluated the impact of a series of CPD courses by identifying factors influencing physicians' intention to adopt targeted behaviors and assessing self-reported behavior adoption six months later. Methods In this pre-post study, eligible participants attended at least one in-person course at the Fédération des Médecins Spécialistes du Québec annual meeting in November 2019. Before and afterwards, participants completed CPD-REACTION, a validated questionnaire based on Godin’s integrated model for health professional behavior change that measures intention and psychosocial factors influencing intention. We used Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare pre- and post-course intention scores and linear regression analyses to identify factors influencing intention. We also compared the post-course intention scores of participants reporting a behavior change six months later with the scores of those reporting no behavior change six months later. Qualitative data were analyzed using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Results A total of 205/329 course attendees completed CPD-REACTION (response rate 62.3%). Among these participants, 158/329 (48%) completed the questionnaire before CPD courses, 129/329 (39.2%) only after courses and 47/329 (14.3%) at 6 months. Study population included 192 physicians of which 78/192 (40.6%) were female; 59/192 (30.7%) were between 50 and 59 years old; and 72/192 (37.5%) were surgical specialists. Mean intention scores before (n = 158) and after (n = 129) courses were 5.74 (SD = 1.52) and 6.35 (SD = 0.93) respectively. Differences in mean (DM) intention before and afterwards ranged from − 0.31 (p = 0.17) to 2.25 (p = 0.50). Multivariate analysis showed that beliefs about capabilities (β = 0.15, p = 0.001), moral norm (β = 0.75, p < 0.0001), and beliefs about consequences (β = 0.11, p = 0.04) influenced post-course intention. Post-course intention was correlated with behavior six months later (DM = 0.63; p = 0.02). Qualitative analysis showed that facilitators to behavior adoption after six months were most often related to the TDF domains of beliefs about capabilities. Most frequent barriers to adoption related to lack of resources. Conclusions To increase effectiveness of future CPD courses, CPD providers could increase participants’ intention by including interventions that emphasize beliefs about capabilities, moral norm and beliefs about consequences.

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