Knowledge and utilisation of occupational asthma guidelines in primary care

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.

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.

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.

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.