CME-Certified Microlearning Platform Successful in Improving Knowledge on the Use of Preventive Migraine Therapies Among Neurologists and PCPs
Thomas Finnegan1, Kathryn Merlo1, Rashmi Halker Singh2
1Medscape Education, 2Mayo Clinic
Objective:
In order to help close the gap in care, a series of short CME-certified programs was developed to allow neurologists and primary care physicians (PCPs) to individualize their learning journey on different topics pertaining to the use of preventive migraine therapies.
Background:
Migraine is a severe, disabling neurologic disorder that affects at least 39 million men, women, and children in the United States. It is well established that measures of patient-related outcomes are inversely related to the number migraine days per month and yet data consistently shows that patients are not receiving appropriate preventive therapies.
Design/Methods:
The online microlearning platform consisted of 6 separate CME-certified video-recorded programs, each program being 5-7 minutes in total length. The content for each program was delivered by a single headache expert. Educational effect was assessed by examining neurologists’ and PCPs’ pre- and post-education response to one question per program. A paired-samples t-test identified significant differences between pre- and post-assessment responses. Data were collected between August 28, 2021 and November 18, 2021.
Results:
Since participants were not required to take all six of the programs, activity participation ranged from 67-84 neurologist and 89-109 PCP learners. Neurologists and PCPs demonstrated significant (P <.05) pre vs post educational improvement in the following areas: gastrointestinal symptoms associated with frequent migraines; American Headache Society recommendations for the use preventive treatment; the mechanism of action of anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies; and clinical trial outcomes for anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies. Neither physician group demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in selecting between available anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies for migraine prevention.
Conclusions:
The results indicated that the use of CME-certified microlearning programming can effectively improve knowledge among both neurologists and PCPs regarding information pertaining the use of preventive migraine therapies. Both clinician groups would benefit from additional education on when and how to effectively utilize preventive migraine therapies.