A retrospective audit evaluating the effectiveness of a falls risk assessment tool

Abstract

Clinical audit is based on the concept of quality assurance in health care. It is important for all health care providers especially specialists and consultants to be aware of the principles governing clinical audit in addition to the methods in conducting such an audit.•To assess the knowledge and attitude of medical postgraduate students on clinical audit.•To evaluate the effectiveness of an interventional program conducted to educate the principles and methods of conducting clinical audit to medical postgraduates.The study was done in 92 postgraduate medical students in our institute using a pre-test and post-test questionnaire, evaluating their knowledge on different perspectives of medical audit and also assessing the change in their attitude towards audit after an educative interventional program. The questionnaire consisted of 13 knowledge questions and 3 attitude questions. Each question was scored and the overall maximum score was 35.The mean post-test score (24.45 ± 3.21) was significantly higher than the mean pre-test score (16.18 ± 3.41) using paired t-test (p < 0.001) indicating that the educational intervention was effective in improving the understanding of the candidates on clinical audit.It is imperative for all medical postgraduates to realize the importance of clinical audit in addition to acquiring the skill of conducting a meaningful and successful clinical audit. Attainment of such a competency can be achieved through planned repeated interventions and help usher in an era of best quality of patient care.