Care of adults with developmental disabilities: Effects of a continuing education course for primary care providers

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Description of 5 key measures used in questionnaires

KEY MEASURES	NO. OF QUESTIONS	RESPONSE FORMAT (SCORING)	EXAMPLES
Frequency of use of the Guidelines and Tools Book	3	5-point Likert scale (never = 1, rarely = 2, sometimes = 3, usually = 4, always = 5) (values summated)	“Indicate the frequency [with which] you used the ‘Consensus Guidelines for Primary Health Care of Adults with Developmental Disabilities’”
Frequency of performing periodic health examinations	11	5-point Likert scale (never = 1, rarely = 2, sometimes = 3, usually = 4, always = 5) (values summated)	“Estimate how often you assessed for cerumen impaction”
Frequency of performing assessments when a patient presents with a behaviour change	7	5-point Likert scale (never = 1, rarely = 2, sometimes = 3, usually = 4, always = 5) (values summated)	“Estimate how often you assessed for physical, verbal and nonverbal cues of pain and distress”
Level of comfort while caring for adults with DD	8	5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree = 1, somewhat disagree = 2, neutral = 3, agree somewhat = 4, strongly agree = 5) (values summated)	“To what extent do you agree/disagree with the statement: ‘I feel I have the necessary skills and training to care for a patient with a DD’”
Knowledge of primary care related to adults with DD	4	Multiple choice in response to vignette (no. of correct answers out of 4)	“In assessing the cause of mild DD for this patient, which of the following statements are TRUE”

Table 2.

Demographic characteristics of study participants

CHARACTERISTICS	INTERVENTION GROUP (N = 23)	CONTROL GROUP (N = 24)	P VALUE
Female sex, n (%)	16 (69.6)	18 (75.0)	.68
Mean (SD) age, y	47.1 (9.0)	46.1 (9.7)	.73
Mean (SD) duration of practice, y	12.2 (10.7)	14.9 (12.0)	.43
Profession, n (%)			.68
• Physicians	13 (56.5)	15 (62.5)
• Registered nurses or nurse practitioners	10 (43.5)	9 (37.5)

Table 3.

Repeated-measures ANOVA results of the key measures comparing the intervention group and the control group before and after the study period

KEY MEASURES	GROUP	BEFORE STUDY PERIOD, MEAN (SD)	AFTER STUDY PERIOD, MEAN (SD)	REPEATED-MEASURES ANOVA RESULTS

				GROUP -BY-TIME INTERACTIONS	TIME INTERACTIONS	GROUP INTERACTIONS
Frequency of use of the Guidelines and Tools Book	Control	7.7 (4.2)	7.8 (3.4)	F = 17.2, P < .001	F = 18.4, P < .001	F = 3.7, P = .07
Frequency of use of the Guidelines and Tools Book	Intervention	7.8 (3.2)	12.8 (3.5)
Frequency of performing periodic health examinations	Control	31.8 (10.5)	32.5 (10.9)	F = 0.63, P = .43	F = 2.5, P = .13	F = 1.9, P = .18
Frequency of performing periodic health examinations	Intervention	34.9 (7.2)	37.2 (10.9)
Frequency of performing assessments when a patient presents with a behaviour change	Control	24.6 (5.7)	23.6 (5.8)	F = 5.3, P = .03	F = 1.5, P = .23	F = 1.2, P = .28
	Intervention	24.2 (6.0)	27.5 (7.1)
Level of comfort while caring for adults with DD	Control	21.5 (4.9)	22.4 (6.6)	F = 6.9, P = .01	F = 14.7, P = .001	F = 0.95, P = .34
Level of comfort while caring for adults with DD	Intervention	21.3 (6.1)	26.2 (6.0)
Knowledge of primary care related to adults with DD	Control	2.6 (1.1)	2.3 (1.1)	F = 7.9, P = .01	F = 0.27, P = .61	F = 2.2, P = .15
Knowledge of primary care related to adults with DD	Intervention	2.6 (0.7)	3.1 (0.6)