Do educational meetings and group detailing change adherence to drug formularies in hospitals? A cluster randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine whether educational meetings and group detailing could increase the use of drugs from the ward lists or the drug formulary in hospitals.

Methods: Twelve medical wards from two hospitals were randomized into three groups: control, basic and extended intervention. All wards had a ward list review before interventions. Moreover, the basic intervention consisted of an educational meeting, and the extended intervention included two group detailing sessions. The proportion of drugs used from the ward list or hospital drug formulary (HDF) was the primary outcome. Data (defined daily doses [DDDs], numbers and cost [Euros]) on drugs sold to the wards were retrieved from the two hospitals from 1 July 2011 to 31 August 2012.

Baseline data: from July to September 2011, and follow-up data: from June to August 2012.

Results: The proportion of formulary drugs used increased for the extended intervention group (0.04, range -0.02 to 0.09) and basic intervention group (0.03, range -0.03 to 0.09) in comparison with a decrease in the control group (-0.01, range -0.03 to -0.02). The interventions did not significantly change odds for selecting drugs from the formulary in comparison with the control group (basic intervention: OR 1.09 [95 % CI 0.81 to 1.46]; extended intervention: OR 1.00 [95 % CI 0.75 to 1.35]).

Conclusions: In this study, educational meetings and group detailing do not significantly improve adherence to ward lists or HDF. The adherence to the formularies at baseline was relatively high, which may explain why the interventions did not have a significant effect.