Background:

Prevalence for gonarthrosis rises strongly with age, especially in obese females (+65 yrs: 23%). Assessment and treatment of this group is a challenge for the PT.

Objectives:

To evaluate whether peer consultation contributes to enhancement of knowledge, skills and attitude when applying the guideline ‘knee arthrosis’.

Methods:

In the context of the Belgian Quality Enhancement System, 322 PTs enrolled in peer-review consultations concerning assessment and treatment of knee arthrosis, after explanation by an expert on the ‘guideline knee arthrosis’.
A pre- and 60 days post- peer review 9-item questionnaire was filled out by the participants. The questions, on which answers were graded by the Likert-scale, dealt with assessment (4 questions), treatment skills and attitude (4 questions) and attitude towards written reports for the prescribing physician.

Results:

Macro level analysis showed improvement on all the questioned items, e.g. knowledge, skills and attitude towards the peer review. Differences between 1st and 2nd questionnaire were relevant on the p = 0,01-level.

Conclusions:

Organising peer reviews on assessment and treatment of gonarthrosis and, we might add, for other medical problems, is a valuable technique to improve the competencies of PTs.