Training general practitioners in hypertension management with expert-guided network tracing system

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the application of “expert-guided network tracking system” in training community general practitioner for hypertension management.Methods Total 855 general practitioners (GPs) from 20 community health service centers in Hangzhou,Jiaxing and Shaoxing of Zhejiang province were divided into two groups: 430 GPs from 10 community health centers received training for hypertension management using “ expert-guided networking tracking system” (intervention group) in December 2008 and 425 GPs from another 10 health centers received conventional training (control group).Questionnaire surveys about the knowledge and skill of hypertension management were conducted before and 3 y after training.Results The awareness rates of knowledge about hypertension prevention and control,non-drug therapy and drug therapy increased from 37.0％ (159/430),45.6％ (196/430),42.8％ (184/430) to 66.8％ (284/425),81.4％ (346/425),77.6％ (330/425),respectively and the accuracy of case analysis increased from 38.4％ (490/1290) to 73.3％ (946/1290) (P ＜0.01) after training in intervention group.Meanwhile the knowledge and case management abilities in control group were also improved after conventional training,but the degree was significantly lower than that in the intervention group.Conclusions “Expert-guided networking tracking system” can significantly improve the knowledge and skills for hypertension management in community general practitioners. Key words: Hypertension; Community health services; Questionnaires; Training