Study protocol

Clinical evidence continuous medical education: a randomised educational trial of an open access e-learning program for transferring evidence-based information – ICEKUBE (Italian Clinical Evidence Knowledge Utilization Behaviour Evaluation) – study protocol

Lorenzo Moja¹ , Ivan Moschetti¹ , Michela Cinquini² , Valeria Sala¹ , Anna Compagnoni³ , Piergiorgio Duca⁴ , Christian Deligant⁵ , Roberto Manfrini⁵ , Luca Clivio⁶ , Roberto Satolli⁵ , Antonio Addis⁷ , Jeremy M Grimshaw⁸ , Pietro Dri⁵ and Alessandro Liberati¹

¹Italian Cochrane Centre, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milano, Italy

²Dipartimento di oncologia, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milano, Italy

³Sendo Foundation, Milano, Italy

⁴Università degli Studi, Milano, Italy

⁵Zadig Scientific Publisher, Milano, Italy

⁶Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milano, Italy

⁷Italian Drug Agency (AIFA), Roma, Italy

⁸Ottawa Health Research Institute, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Centre for Best Practice, Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

author email corresponding author email

Implementation Science 2008, 3:37doi:10.1186/1748-5908-3-37

Published:	17 July 2008

Abstract

Background

In an effort to ensure that all physicians have access to valid and reliable evidence on drug effectiveness, the Italian Drug Agency sponsored a free-access e-learning system, based on Clinical Evidence, called ECCE. Doctors have access to an electronic version and related clinical vignettes. Correct answers to the interactive vignettes provide Continuing Medical Education credits. The aims of this trial are to establish whether the e-learning program (ECCE) increases physicians' basic knowledge about common clinical scenarios, and whether ECCE is superior to the passive diffusion of information through the printed version of Clinical Evidence.

Design

All Italian doctors naïve to ECCE will be randomised to three groups. Group one will have access to ECCE for Clinical Evidence chapters and vignettes lot A and will provide control data for Clinical Evidence chapters and vignettes lot B; group two vice versa; group three will receive the concise printed version of Clinical Evidence. There are in fact two designs: a before and after pragmatic trial utilising a two by two incomplete block design (group one versus group two) and a classical design (group one and two versus group three). The primary outcome will be the retention of Clinical Evidence contents assessed from the scores for clinical vignettes selected from ECCE at least six months after the intervention. To avoid test-retest effects, we will randomly select vignettes out of lot A and lot B, avoiding repetitions. In order to preserve the comparability of lots, we will select vignettes with similar, optimal psychometric characteristics.

Trial registration

ISRCTN27453314