You will be presented with a collection of medical randomized controlled trial (RCT) reports addressing a shared clinical question -- for instance, the efficacy of a medical intervention on a disease or condition. Given the titles and abstracts of these reports, your task is to generate the conclusion of the systematic review article synthesizing the key findings. Your conclusion should be a few sentences long. In your response, include only the conclusion and no other text. The RCT reports are below.



Title 1:
A Framework for Assessing Continuing Professional Development Activities for Satisfying Pharmacy Revalidation Requirements
Abstract 1:
Introduction : The United Kingdom 's pharmacy regulator contemplated using continuing professional development ( CPD ) in pharmacy revalidation in 2009 , simultaneously asking pharmacy professionals to demonstrate the value of their CPD by showing its relevance and impact . The idea of linking new CPD requirements with revalidation was yet to be explored . Our aim was to develop and vali date a framework to guide pharmacy professionals to select CPD activities that are relevant to their work and to produce a score sheet that would make it possible to quantify the impact and relevance of CPD . Methods : We adapted an existing risk matrix , producing a CPD framework consisting of relevance and impact matrices . Concepts underpinning the framework were refined through feedback from 5 pharmacist teacher‐practitioners . We then asked 7 pharmacists to rate the relevance of the framework 's individual elements on a 4‐point scale to determine content validity . We explored views about the framework through focus groups with 6 participants and interviews with 17 participants who had used it formally in a study . Results : The framework 's content validity index was 0.91 . Feedback about the framework related to 3 themes of penetrability of the framework , usefulness to completion of CPD , and advancement of CPD records for the purpose of revalidation . Discussion : The framework can help professionals better select CPD activities prospect ively , and makes assessment of CPD more objective by allowing quantification , which could be helpful for revalidation . We believe the framework could potentially help other health professionals with better management of their CPD irrespective of their field of practice


Title 2:
Evaluation of the impact of a continuing professional development worksheet on sustained learning and implementing change after a continuing pharmacy education activity.
Abstract 2:
BACKGROUND Continuing professional development ( CPD ) continues to gain acceptance as a model for health care professionals to engage in lifelong learning . Little is known about how CPD participants use the experience to develop learning plans and implement new knowledge into practice . OBJECTIVE The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of instruments design ed to guide the pharmacist through a CPD process to plan and participate in continuing professional education activities at a national meeting . METHODS The study was a case-control study of pharmacists r and omized from the participants of the 2010 American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting . The test group ( n=47 ) was instructed to complete CPD planning worksheets design ed to facilitate planning of their continuing pharmacy education activities before the meeting . The control group ( n=58 ) did not have instructions beyond the meeting program . Both groups completed 3 surveys assessing components of the CPD processes : 1 before and 2 after the meeting . The surveys focused on confidence in abilities to identify , plan , and evaluate learning as well as implementation of practice change . RESULTS Nearly all the test groups reported successful application of learning ( 95 % ) and achieving their design ed learning plan ( 87 % ) . Practice changes were implemented in more than half ( 60 % ) of the test groups after using a CPD process to plan their learning activities . There were no significant differences among groups regarding the outcome measures . CONCLUSIONS Participants successfully used a CPD approach to meet their learning plans and achieve meaningful learning outcomes . Integration of CPD components into educational activities may help to promote practice change


Title 3:
A Five-State Continuing Professional Development Pilot Program for Practicing Pharmacists
Abstract 3:
Objective . To determine whether a structured educational intervention would support pharmacists ' utilization of a continuing professional development ( CPD ) model compared to pharmacist control subjects . Methods . A prospect i ve , r and omized , observational case-control study of CPD was conducted in which pharmacists participated in several educational interventions , and study and control groups completed pre study and post study survey instruments . Results . Survey data from 57 pharmacists ( n = 28 study , n = 29 control ) were analyzed and significant outcomes from the CPD stages of reflect , plan , act , evaluate , and record were found between matched study subjects and study and control group comparisons . Conclusions . With appropriate training and support , pharmacists can utilize a CPD approach to their lifelong learning and professional development


Title 4:
The Impact of Continuing Professional Development Versus Traditional Continuing Pharmacy Education on Pharmacy Practice
Abstract 4:
Background : The Institute of Medicine states that the new vision for continuing education ( CE ) for health-care professionals will be based on continuing professional development ( CPD ) ; however , information on the utility of CPD is lacking . Objective : To assess the effect of CPD , compared with that of traditional continuing pharmacy education ( CPE ) , on perceptions of factors related to pharmacy practice . Methods : This 10-month , nonblinded , r and omized controlled study recruited licensed pharmacists employed at a health maintenance organization ( HMO ) . After completing a basic CPD course , participants were r and omized to the intervention or control group . The control group was instructed to continue with traditional CPE . The intervention group participants completed 3 CPD workshops and were instructed to utilize the CPD approach for their learning needs . At baseline and follow-up , all participants completed a study question naire on perceptions of their pharmacy practice s. The outcome measures were comparisons on follow-up and changes from baseline to follow-up in responses to the study question naire . Results : One hundred pharmacists were enrolled . The intervention ( n = 44 , 7 lost to follow-up ) and control ( n = 47 , 2 lost to follow-up ) groups were similar at baseline . At follow-up , a higher percentage of intervention participants reported that they had better interactions with other health-care providers ( always/frequently 32 % vs 6 % , respectively ) and initiated practice /work changes ( always/frequently 21 % vs 0 % , respectively ) ( both p < 0.01 ) as a result of their education activities . Compared with control participants at follow-up , intervention participants reported that their education activities improved patient care changes ( 46 % vs 23 % ) , professional knowledge ( 34 % vs 6 % ) , skills ( 48 % vs 17 % ) , and attitudes/values ( 43 % to 11 % ) ( all p < 0.05 ) . However , intervention participants reported more often that time was a barrier to completing education activities ( 75 % vs 32 % , p < 0.001 ) . Conclusions : Pharmacists who participated in CPD reported more often that their perceptions of various aspects of their pharmacy practice improved as a result of their education activities compared with pharmacists who participated in traditional CPE


Title 5:
Factors affecting the views and attitudes of Scottish pharmacists to continuing professional development.
Abstract 5:
OBJECTIVES To explore factors associated with Scottish pharmacists ' views and attitudes to continuing professional development ( CPD ) . METHODS A retrospective principal component analysis of 552 ( 22.8 % ) question naires returned from a sample of 2420 Scottish pharmacists r and omly selected from the 4300 pharmacists registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and with a Scottish address . KEY FINDINGS Principal component analysis of question naire items ( n = 19 ) revealed four factors associated with Scottish pharmacists ' views and attitudes to CPD  : having positive support in the workplace , having access to re sources and meeting learning needs , having confidence in the CPD process and motivation to participate in the CPD process . Community pharmacists were identified as the subgroup of pharmacists that needed most support for CPD regarding all four factors , while pharmacists working in primary care felt that they had most support in the workplace in comparison to other sectors ( P < 0.05 ) and better access to re sources and meeting learning needs when compared to community ( P < 0.001 ) and hospital ( P = 0.008 ) colleagues . Pharmacists working in primary care also felt more motivated to participate in the CPD process than those in the community ( P < 0.001 ) , and hospital pharmacists reported having more confidence in the CPD process compared to community pharmacists ( P < 0.05 ) . CONCLUSION Using principal component analysis has identified four factors associated with Scottish pharmacists ' views and attitudes to CPD . This may provide an approach to facilitate comparison of CPD views and attitudes with intra and inter professional groupings . Further study may allow identification of good practice and solutions to common CPD issues


Title 6:
Assessment of Egyptian pharmacists’ attitude, behaviors, and preferences related to continuing education
Abstract 6:
Background Contemporary pharmaceutical care requires sustained pharmacist competency through maintenance and improvement of knowledge , skills , and performance . Existing continuing education ( CE ) models reflect a wide spectrum of international approaches to life-long learning . Objective The objective of this study was to determine CE preferences of pharmacists in Egypt before implementing a plan for compulsory annual CE activities and events for licensure renewal . Setting A question naire containing questions about continuing education needs and preferences of Egyptian pharmacists was distributed to 400 pharmacies in Cairo . The sample was drawn r and omly from the address list in yellow pages . The survey was conducted by personal interview . Method The question naire was design ed and vali date d. Questions were divided into specific domains of interest including pharmacist demographics ; access to internet re sources ; frequency and characteristics of past CE activities ; preferences for delivery and content ; motivation to participation ; and plans for future CE activities . All data analyses were conducted using SPSS for Windows version 18.0 . All statistical tests were 2-tailed and based on a significance level of p value ≤ 0.05 . Results During the six months of question naire distribution , 400 pharmacists ( one from each r and omly selected pharmacies ) were asked to complete the question naire . The response rate was 359 out of 400 pharmacists ( 89.75 % ) . Twenty three percent of respondents had held their highest pharmacy degree to practice for less than 5 years and 19 % had obtained their initial degree more than 15 years ago . More than half of the respondents were female ( 53.3 % ) . Topics related to therapeutics were of highest interest to 85.3 % , closely followed by clinical skills topics . Pharmacists working in community pharmacies had attended less CE events ( 15 vs. 28 % , p = 0.034 within the past 2 years ) when compared to their hospital-based counterparts . Conversely , hospital pharmacists generally reported less satisfaction with current CE ( 21 vs. 33 % , p = 0.021 ) . Conclusion Respondents of the survey expressed enthusiasm towards CE activity , but cited common barriers to participation , as well , such as employer- and technology-based obstacles . These results confirm that features of a successful CE program must be flexible to meet preferences and perceived needs of Egyptian pharmacists
Due to the variety of formats and no consistent model , no perfect model or activity has been identified .
However , CPD showed increased practice outcomes  versus CE .
Although an increasing amount of technology is being utilized , face-to-face learning is still preferred .