Resident physician's knowledge of risk factors for upper gastrointestinal complications from NSAIDs

Although physician compliance with the use of gastroprotection among nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) users is suboptimal, we previously showed that the combination of an electronic alert with an educational intervention modestly improved rates of gastroprotection at hospital discharge. We sought to assess understanding of risk factors for NSAID-related upper gastrointestinal (GI) complications among junior and senior residents, some of whom had previously been exposed to the targeted educational intervention. We developed a 21-question survey based on known risk factors for upper GI complications from NSAIDs. Cumulative scores were calculated based on answers to knowledge-based questions. Among 78 eligible physicians, 72 participated (35 interns, 37 residents). Mean composite scores were 10.31 for interns and 12.30 for residents (P < 0.0001). Eight residents previously exposed to the targeted educational intervention tended to higher scores than 29 residents who were not (12.25 vs. 11.52, respectively, not significant). Senior residents demonstrated marginally better knowledge of risk factors for upper GI complications from NSAIDs. A combined educational intervention and electronic alert did not have a durable impact on knowledge.