P3833 - A Curriculum of Online Education Significantly Improved Clinicians’ Knowledge, Competence and Confidence in Implementing Noninvasive Screening for Liver Fibrosis

Elaine Bell, PhD¹, Anne G. Le, PharmD², Arun J. Sanyal, MD^3
1Medscape Global, London, England, United Kingdom; ²Medscape LLC, New York, NY; ³Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond, VA

Introduction: It is estimated that one in four adults world wide has non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which can develop into liver fibrosis. Historically, liver biopsy has been used to assess fibrosis but noninvasive tests (NITs) have now been developed that can be used to assess fibrosis risk.

We assessed whether online education could improve clinicians’ understanding of NITs for liver fibrosis.

Methods: Gastroenterologists and diabetologists/endocrinologists participated in 3 online activities with synchronized slides. Data were collected between Dec 2022 and April 2023 with n numbers ranging from 657 to 929 for gastroenterologists and 369 to 455 for diabetologists/endocrinologists. 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 combined and analyzed by 3 themes to provide a summative overview of the effect of the education across the combined activities. A series of McNemar’s tests were conducted at the question level (5% significance level, P < .05).

Results:

• Gastroenterologists demonstrated a significant improvement in knowledge/competence across all 3 learning themes (NITs and their advantages, importance of risk assessment for liver fibrosis, and implementing NITs in clinical practice; all P < 0.01); the relative improvements in percentage of correct responses for each learning theme ranged from 2%–49%


• The percentage of gastroenterologists reporting being confident/very confident rose from 27% pre-activity to 50% post-activity (P < .001)


• Diabetologists/endocrinologists demonstrated a significant improvement in knowledge/competence in 2 of the 3 learning themes (NITs and their advantages and implementing NITs in clinical practice; both P < 0.01); relative improvements in percentage of correct responses for the 2 learning themes with significant improvements were 87% and 34%


• The percentage of diabetologists/endocrinologists reporting being confident/very confident rose from 19% pre-activity to 44% post-activity (P < .001)

Discussion: These online activities significantly improved clinicians’ knowledge/competence and confidence in the use of NITs to assess the risk of liver fibrosis. Clinicians would likely benefit from further education to support them in translating knowledge of NITs into clinical practice in order to optimize outcomes for patients.


Disclosures:


Elaine Bell, PhD¹, Anne G. Le, PharmD², Arun J. Sanyal, MD³. P3833 - A Curriculum of Online Education Significantly Improved Clinicians’ Knowledge, Competence and Confidence in Implementing Noninvasive Screening for Liver Fibrosis, ACG 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Vancouver, BC, Canada: American College of Gastroenterology.