Knowledge and Utilisation of Occupational Asthma Guidelines in Primary Care

Aims: To develop an occupational asthma learning module, which could be used both as an educational tool and to evaluate awareness and usage of clinical guidelines in primary care.

Methods: Healthcare professionals were invited to undertake an interactive BMJ Learning module, developed from existing national occupational asthma guidelines. Participants were invited to record immediate post-module feedback, and were also sent an e-mail questionnaire six weeks later to assess the impact of the module.

Results: In total 1041 healthcare professionals completed the learning module within the first six months, which was associated with significant improvements in knowledge, and predominantly positive feedback. The e-mail follow-up questionnaire demonstrated improved usage and awareness of national occupational asthma guidelines.

Conclusions: Significant barriers remain in ensuring that evidence-based occupational medicine guidelines are adopted in primary care. This project has demonstrated that e-learning offers one method of improving postgraduate medical education in this area, particularly where evidence-based guidelines have already been developed.