The Short-Term Impact of a Continuing Education Program on Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Diabetes

Objectives. This study examined the short-term impact of a continuing education (CE) program on pharmacists' knowledge and attitudes toward diabetes. Methods. A constructive 7-hour CE program for enhancing the ability to perform pharmaceutical care for diabetic patients was conducted by the Taipei Pharmacists Association. The Diabetes Knowledge Test in Mandarin (DKT-M) with 10 items and the Diabetes Attitude Scale in Mandarin (DAS-M) with 37 items were employed to measure the efficacy of the program. Results. Pharmacists' mean scores on the DKT-M significantly increased from 4.89 ±1.93 before the CE program to 7.72 ± 1.96 after the educational intervention (p < 0.0001). The mean overall score and mean scores on 6 subscales on the DAS-M exceeded the neutral point of 3 before intervention, indicating positive attitudes toward diabetes. Nevertheless, their mean DAS-M score of 3.91 ± 0.30) significantly increased to 4.0 ± 0.28 after the intervention (p < 0.0001), indicating highly positive attitudes toward di...