Background/Purpose: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) are challenging conditions for rheumatologists to manage. There is an increasing focus on virtual training modalities post-pandemic. We assessed whether a curriculum of online educational activities could improve rheumatologists’ knowledge, competence and confidence in managing patients with spondyloarthritis.

Methods: A curriculum of virtual activities was developed on the evolving therapeutic landscape in the treatment of psoriasis (PSO) and spondyloarthritis (SpA). Data presented here are from the initial 4 activities on SpA, including 2 on line panel discussions and enduring versions of symposia from EADV 2022 and ACR 2022. Data were collected between 2022 and 2023 with n numbers for each activity ranging from 108 to 549 completing pre- and post-activity questions. Educational effect was assessed with a repeated-pairs pre-/post-assessment; 3 multiple-choice, knowledge or competence questions and 1 self-efficacy, 5-point Likert scale confidence question were analyzed. Data were subsequently combined and analyzed by 5 themes to provide a summative overview of the effect of the education across the combined activities. A McNemar’s test was conducted to assess statistical significance of changes from pre- to post-assessment.

Results:

• 12,256 MD learners across the globe participated in the activities including 3,877 rheumatologists, 3,180 dermatologists and 4,104 primary care physicians
• Rheumatologists demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in knowledge or competence across 4 of the 5 learning themes (clinical data informing disease management, individualizing treatment to limit disease progression, monitoring disease activity and treatment goals for PsA and axSpA; all P < 0.01)
• Overall, 79% of rheumatologists gained competence and 26% gained knowledge
• Overall, 33% of rheumatologists reported increased confidence e.g. in setting appropriate treatment goals or implementing a treat-to-target strategy: for confidence questions aligned with each individual activity, the percentage of rheumatologists who gained confidence ranged from 19% to 59%

Conclusion: These results highlight the benefits of an on-line curriculum of education in challenging rheumatologists to better manage patients with PsA and axSpA. As the treatment landscape for these diseases continues to evolve, rheumatologists will likely benefit from further innovative educational modalities on key clinical data for emerging medicines and strategies for their deployment in clinical practice.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/a-curriculum-of-online-education-significantly-improved-rheumatologists-knowledge-competence-and-confidence-in-managing-patients-with-spondyloarthritis/