Effectiveness of a targeted education module for healthcare professionals attending a diabetic retinopathy training session in Zimbabwe

RESUMO

The Zimbabwe Diabetes Retinopathy Telemedicine Project (ZRTP) was created to develop a pilot programme to screen for diabetic retinopathy among patients attending a diabetes clinic in a public hospital. As part of the project, mid-level healthcare professionals (HCPs) attended one of four half-day training sessions in Harare, Zimbabwe; and took a five-question quiz before and after a 40-minute lecture reviewing the pathophysiology of diabetes and the detection and effects of diabetic retinopathy. Analysis of the pre- and post-lecture quiz results suggest that mid-level HCPs are deficient in some basic knowledge about diabetic retinopathy and diabetes, but this could be significantly improved by a relatively brief but focused lecture session