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Continuing dental education in radiation protection: knowledge retention following a postgraduate course
Author(s) -
Absi E. G.,
Drage N. A.,
Thomas H. S.,
Newcombe R. G.,
Cowpe J.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
european journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1600-0579
pISSN - 1396-5883
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2010.00658.x
Subject(s) - attrition , attendance , medicine , dental education , course evaluation , test (biology) , dentistry , continuing education , family medicine , physical therapy , medical education , higher education , paleontology , political science , law , economics , biology , economic growth
Objective: To evaluate medium‐term knowledge retention of dental personnel following attendance at a postgraduate course in radiation protection. Subjects and methods: Knowledge was measured using identical pre‐ and post‐course validated single best‐answer multiple‐choice instruments, administered immediately before and after training and at follow‐up at 6 or 12 months. These comprise 16 questions each with 5 choices. The range of possible scores was from 0 to 16, and scores were scaled to percentages. Participants were predominantly dental practitioners, but a minority consisted of dental care professionals (dental nurses, hygienists and therapists). Of 285 participants, 272 (95.4%) completed both pre‐ and post‐course questionnaires. One hundred and seventeen (43%) of these also completed the follow‐up test, but only 109 (40%) individuals could be linked to the original course. Results: Mean (standard deviation) pre‐, post‐course and follow‐up‐corrected percentage scores were 39.1 (16.1), 74.6 (16.9) and 58.9 (22.7), respectively. There was attrition in knowledge at follow‐up: the average increase in adjusted score after training was 35.5 points, but only 56% of this was retained at follow‐up. Paired t ‐tests confirmed that the mean score at follow‐up was firmly intermediate between the pre‐ and post‐course scores. Of the 109 participants, 7 (6%) achieved a satisfactory score pre‐training, 82 (75%) immediately post‐training and 41 (38%) at follow‐up. There were gross differences between the levels of performance achieved for the eight subject areas tested. Conclusion: Immediate post‐course assessments have indicated that current postgraduate courses in radiation protection are effective. However, a substantial amount of knowledge is lost by 6–12 months following course attendance. To achieve long‐term knowledge retention, early or repeated reinforcement may be necessary.