Factors associated with behavior change in family physicians after CME presentation

Registrants of a four-day family practice refresher course responded to a survey assessing their reaction to a brief presentation recommending the use of penile anesthesia in newborn circumcision. Of the 110 respondents who had attended that session, 56 percent reacted favorably to the recommendation, 27 percent rejected it, and 17 percent had mixed reactions. Twenty-three percent of the respondents who were performing circumcisions at the time of the survey said they began using the recommended procedure following the conference, most with good results. Those who did not adopt the recommendation said using penile anesthesia for newborn circumcision was unnecessary, potentially dangerous, or both. The results suggest that evaluation of behavior change resulting from continuing medical education efforts should consider attitudinal variables on the part of those attending conferences in addition to variables related to the overall quality of the conference.