Improving obstructive sleep apnea competency of primary care clinicians through online education.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an often overlooked, widespread disease and a public health concern. Evidence-based practice guidelines do not exist to guide primary care clinicians' OSA screening practices. Clinicians must be competent in OSA; however, clinicians lack competency about this disease.

Local Problem: Elevated rates of undiagnosed OSA potentially exist in two rural and one suburban counties in Kansas, as indicated by the increased weight and elevated chronic disease prevalence in these counties' populations.

Methods: A one-cohort, pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental design was used for this quality-improvement project implemented over 11 weeks. Clinicians' competencies on OSA were measured before and after the intervention using the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Knowledge and Attitude Survey.

Intervention: A brief educational video on OSA was developed for this project. Definition, risk factors and complications, screening methods, definitive diagnosis, and treatment options were covered in this video.

Results: Participants (N = 14) showed improved OSA competency after watching the educational video. Participants improved OSA competency after watching the interventional video (M = 16.3, SE = 0.194) versus preintervention (M = 14.2, SE = 0.318). Participants also improved OSA attitude scores postintervention.

Conclusion: Primary care clinician OSA competency scores improved after engaging in a brief educational video intervention when measured using the OSA knowledge and attitude survey. Practicing clinicians can benefit from participating in education about the disease.