APA Practice Guidelines

Abstract

Seventy-eight psychiatrists attending an American Psychiatric Association (APA) district branch continuing education meeting were surveyed about their awareness and acceptance of the APA’s practice guideline for bipolar disorder. Assessments were conducted immediately before and again immediately following an educational intervention, which consisted of a 3-hour slide-show and lecture presentation on these guidelines. Before the presentation, one out of six of these psychiatrists did not know that practice guidelines even existed, and about one-half did not have (or did not know that they had) a copy, and they did not know that guidelines were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Almost half had not read any of the bipolar guideline, whereas 34% had read “some” or “thoroughly.” Responses before and following the intervention showed that a large majority of the psychiatrists felt that this specific guideline generally validated the manner in which they treated patients with bipolar disorders, and almost half felt that knowledge obtained from the guideline had changed, or would change, their treatment of bipolar disorders in the future. High levels of acceptability for the guideline were reported both by those who had previously read the guideline and those who first became familiar with it during the presentation. Presentations at APA district branches may aid in dissemination of practice guidelines, but additional interventions and dissemination techniques are required as well. Since questions based on the APA’s practice guidelines will be increasingly influential in American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology recertification examinations, more comprehensive dissemination methods are needed to assure that practitioners are well acquainted with these guidelines.