Ontario Printed Educational Message trial (OPEM): changing physician decision making towards more evidence based choices
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN72772651 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN72772651 |
| Protocol serial number | MCT-67916 |
| Sponsor | Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences - Toronto (Canada) |
| Funder | Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (Canada), ref: MCT-67916 |
- Submission date
- 21/07/2005
- Registration date
- 21/07/2005
- Last edited
- 14/12/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Nutritional, Metabolic, Endocrine
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Plain English summary of protocol
Not provided at time of registration
Contact information
Dr Merrick Flynn Zwarenstein
Scientific
Scientific
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
2075 Bayview Ave
G106
Toronto, Ontario
M4N 3M5
Canada
| Phone | +1 (0)416 480 4055 ext. 7439 |
|---|---|
| merrick.zwarenstein@ices.on.ca |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | Single-centre randomised cluster and factorial trial |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Printed Educational Materials (PEMs) and their impact on physician decision making towards more evidence based choices: a single centre randomised tria |
| Study acronym | OPEM |
| Study objectives | Printed Educational Materials (PEMs) will change physician decision making towards more evidence based choices. Study Objective: To measure the impact of PEMs on physician behaviour. This description covers three replicates, independantly randomised. Each of the three sequential studies, aimed to asses the effects of printed educational materials on practice change by physicians. Each of the three replicates was aimed at a different condition and group of patients, and used different messages, but the same message formats. These three seperate trials, essentially identical in design, tested the impact of printed educational messages aimed at: 1. Increasing coverage of retinal screening among all adult patients with diabetes 2. Intensification of cardiovascular treatment for patients over 65 years of age, with diabetes, and 3. At encouraging physicians to choose thiazides for initiation of hypertension therapy in their patients over 65 years, with newly diagnosed uncomplicated hypertension. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Research Ethics Board of Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada), 29/04/2004, ref: #135-2004 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Diabetes, hypertension |
| Intervention | Posted printed educational materials (PEM) as follows: Intervention arm 1 will receive 'informed' with an attached short outsert Intervention arm 2 will receive 'informed' with an attached short outsert and longer insert Intervention arm 3 will receive 'informed' with an attached long insert Control arm will receive 'informed' only with no attachments |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
Three trials: |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
No secondary outcome measures |
| Completion date | 01/07/2006 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Patient |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 5547 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 5547 actively practicing family (FP) and general practitioners (GP) in Ontario (~25 years and above, either sex) that have more than 100 patients over 65 years of age in fee for service practice with greater $50,000 billings to OHIP in 2003, randomised each time for three mail-outs of PEMs - the Printed Educational Materials |
| Key exclusion criteria | Physicians who have elected not to receive 'informed', a newsletter on evidence based practice out of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/01/2005 |
| Date of final enrolment | 01/07/2006 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Canada
Study participating centre
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
Toronto, Ontario
M4N 3M5
Canada
M4N 3M5
Canada
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | |
| IPD sharing plan | Not provided at time of registration |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | diabetic retinopathy results | 06/08/2014 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | diabetic retinopathy results | 06/08/2014 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | hypertension results | 13/09/2016 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | hypertension results | 17/09/2016 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | 11/12/2021 | 14/12/2021 | Yes | No | |
| Protocol article | process evaluation protocol | 26/11/2007 | Yes | No | |
| Protocol article | protocol | 26/11/2007 | Yes | No | |
| Protocol article | sub-trial protocol | 26/11/2007 | Yes | No | |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
Editorial Notes
14/12/2021: Publication reference added.
19/09/2016: Publication reference added.
14/09/2016: Publication reference added.
