The impact on medical practice of commitments to change following CME lectures: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Self-reported commitment to change (CTC) could be a potentially valuable method to address the need for continuing medical education (CME) to demonstrate clinical outcomes.

Aim: This study determines: (1) are clinicians who make CTCs more likely to report changes in their medical practices and (2) do these changes persist over time?

Methods: Intervention participants (N = 80) selected up to three commitments from a predefined list following the lecture, while control participants (N = 64) generated up to three commitments at 7 days post-lecture. At 7 and 30 days post-lecture, participants were queried if any practice change occurred as a result of attending the lecture.

Results: About 91% of the intervention group reported practice changes consistent with their commitments at 7 days. Only 32% in the control group reported changes (z = 7.32, p < 0.001). At 30 days, more participants in the intervention group relative to the control group reported change (58% vs. 22%, z = 3.74, p < 0.01). Once a participant from either group made a commitment, there were no differences in reported changes (63% vs. 67%, z = <0.00, p = 0.38).

Conclusion: Integration of CTC is an effective method of reinforcing learning and measuring outcomes.