Randomised controlled trial of online continuing education for health professionals to improve the management of chronic fatigue syndrome: a study protocol

Abstract

IntroductionChronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a serious and debilitating illness that affects between 0.2%–2.6% of the world’s population. Although there is level 1 evidence of the benefit of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET) for some people with CFS, uptake of these interventions is low or at best untimely. This can be partly attributed to poor clinician awareness and knowledge of CFS and related CBT and GET interventions. This trial aims to evaluate the effect of participation in an online education programme, compared with a wait-list control group, on allied health professionals’ knowledge about evidence-based CFS interventions and their levels of confidence to engage in the dissemination of these interventions.Methods and analysisA randomised controlled trial consisting of 180 consenting allied health professionals will be conducted. Participants will be randomised into an intervention group (n=90) that will receive access to the online education programme, or a wait-list control group (n=90). The primary outcomes will be: 1) knowledge and clinical reasoning skills regarding CFS and its management, measured at baseline, postintervention and follow-up, and 2) self-reported confidence in knowledge and clinical reasoning skills related to CFS. Secondary outcomes include retention of knowledge and satisfaction with the online education programme. The influence of the education programme on clinical practice behaviour, and self-reported success in the management of people with CFS, will also be assessed in a cohort study design with participants from the intervention and control groups combined.Ethics and disseminationThe study protocol has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee at The University of New South Wales (approval number HC16419). Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journal articles and presentations at scientific conferences and meetings.Trial registrationACTRN12616000296437.

Did We Deliver Quality Education in Online Sessions During Covid 19 Lock Down? Learner’s Perspective from a Developing Country

“…Though most of the responders appreciated timely conversion of educational activity to online sessions during pandemic crisis, but they were not happy with the overall quality of education during these lectures. This finding was consistent with the study previously done by SH Li et al (Li, Sandler et al 2017). The students thought that sharing link of prerecorded lectures could have been equally good if not better option than the online lectures.…”

Association between medical students’ prior experiences and perceptions of formal online education developed in response to COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in China

“…To explore this issue, we conducted a survey of Chinese clinical medical students at the beginning of the 2020 spring semester. We hypothesised that students' online learning experiences are related to their perceptions the online courses taken during the COVID- 19 In China, there are two kinds of medical schools, namely, medical school as a free-standing health professional institution and medical school as a comprehensive university. 30 About 61.64% of the Chinese clinical medicine undergraduates are studying in comprehensive universities and the rest 38.36% are studying in free-standing health professional institution.…”

Randomized controlled trial of an E-learning program for physiotherapy students to improve the management of rotator cuff related shoulder pain: a study protocol

“…9 Moreover, E-learning programs are alternative learning methods to improve healthcare professionals' evidence-based knowledge and practice and have been widely studied in the literature. [10][11][12][13][14] The effects of E-learning interventions on physiotherapists' and physiotherapy students' knowledge on different pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis, spinal cord, and fall rehabilitation have been documented before. 12,13,15,16 On the other hand, there is a limitation of evidence about the effects of an E-learning program on the knowledge of physiotherapy students concerning shoulder pain.…”