BACKGROUND: In 2014, a survey was conducted to evaluate physician understanding of educational materials (Injector’s guide and patient’s guide) developed as part of the risk management plan (RMP) for Ozurdex. The educational materials were revised according to regulatory requirements and were redistributed beginning in 2014.
OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of the revised educational materials, a new survey was conducted from October through December 2018.
METHODS: In this noninterventional, cross-sectional study, physicians in France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom who administered Ozurdex in the previous 6 months were eligible to complete a web-based, multiple-choice questionnaire designed to evaluate physicians’ knowledge and understanding of the educational materials on six knowledge areas: contraindications to Ozurdex injection (6 items), patient preparation for injection (5 items), proper injection technique (7 items), important injection-associated risks (12 items), patient monitoring post-injection (4 items), and importance of counselling patients on symptom reporting (5 items). For each area, the number of physicians considered to have knowledge of that area was determined. Correctly answering >80% of questions in an area was considered the threshold for knowledge in that area.
RESULTS: Of 4,162 physicians invited to participate, 401 (9.6%) completed the questionnaire. Knowledge of proper injection technique was the highest at 76%. Knowledge of injection-associated risks, the importance of counselling patients on symptom reporting, and contraindications to Ozurdex injection reached 68%, 65%, and 61%, respectively. Physicians were least knowledgeable of patient preparation for Ozurdex injection and patient monitoring post-injection with 31% and 3%, respectively. Only 31% of physicians reported receiving the Ozurdex injector’s guide, of whom 82% reported having read it. Variation in knowledge by country was minimal, as were differences in knowledge between physicians who reported receiving the materials and those who did not.
CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge varied considerably across information categories, and the proportion of physicians who reportedly received the injector’s guide was low. Knowledge was high for most key areas covered by the guide, particularly about injection technique and risks. Knowledge of material from the injector’s guide, and recall of receipt of it, may have been affected by the length of time between distribution of the revised materials and the survey, which could have been as much as four years.
