Effects of a Novel GA(2)LEN Training Program on Urticaria on the Knowledge of General Practitioners in Saudi-Arabia

ABSTRACT: Continued education in allergology of both general practitioners and specialists can be achieved by various measures including publications, online tools, and lectures. GA(2)LEN, the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network, has developed 1-day training programs on a number of allergic diseases including asthma, allergic rhinitis, pruritus, angioedema, and urticaria. Here, we assessed the impact of one of these training programs (on urticaria) on the knowledge of 100 participating physicians in Saudi-Arabia by repeated multiple choice examinations. We found that only 5.7% of 70 participants, who took both the pretraining and posttraining examination, passed the pretraining test, that is, answered 70% of the questions correctly. Notably, 68.6% of these participants passed the examination after participating in the 1-day training program (P < 0.001). Participation in the training program also resulted in a significant increase of questions answered correctly (P < 0.001). Taken together, the GA(2)LEN 1-day training programs on selected allergic diseases are an effective means to improve levels of knowledge on these diseases in physicians including general practitioners and the use of these training programs should be promoted and increased.