Effect of an educative intervention on the clinical ability of physicians in the management of metabolic syndrome.

PURPOSE To measure the effect of an educative intervention on the clinical ability of Family Physicians of two Family Units of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with metabolic syndrome. MATERIAL AND METHODS A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a control group using basal and final measurements. The educative intervention of the experiment group included one in-the-classroom work and another at the doctors' office. The instrument was validated by a panel of experts and included 140 items and five case-oriented problems, reaching a reliability index of 0.87. RESULTS . There was no significant difference at base measurement among the different levels of clinical ability between the two groups (p = 0.82), both the experimental and the control groups showed a higher frequency of medium level abilities (33.3 vs. 36.8% respectively). At the end of the follow-up, a significant increase in the experimental group (98 with 49-106 over 69 with 26-94) was observed. CONCLUSIONS The educative intervention utilized in this study improved the ability of Family Physicians to diagnose, treat an apply preventive measures in patients with metabolic syndrome.