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. 2009 Apr 15;2009(2):CD003030. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003030.pub2

Wirtschafter 1986.

Methods Cluster RCT 
 Follow up: 
 providers: NOT CLEAR 
 patients: NOT CLEAR 
 Blinded assessment: NOT CLEAR 
 Baseline: NOT DONE 
 Reliable outcomes: NOT DONE 
 Protection against contamination: DONE
Overall quality: LOW
Participants Estimated 1097 doctors (family practitioners + paediatricians) and nurses in 40 community hospitals caring for newborns in neonatal intensive care units 
 Country: USA 
 Proportion of eligible providers who participated: NOT CLEAR 
 Hospital 
 Academic/Teaching setting: NON‐TEACHING 
 Type of targeted behaviour: GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A PROBLEM (respiratory distress in neonatals) 
 Complexity of targeted behaviour: HIGH
Interventions 1. CME: 1.5 hrs x 2 given 6‐8 months apart: mediated lecture/case study presentation + monthly newsletter 
 2. 1.5 hrs x 2 given 6‐8 months apart: mediated lecture/case study presentation + protocol for treatment of respiratory distress + newsletter 
 3. Control: newsletter
Outcomes Professional practice: combined process score 
 Patient: neonatal mortality 
 Seriousness of outcome: HIGH
Notes  
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias) Unclear risk B ‐ Unclear