P3D194: Supporting Use of Biologic Therapies in Pediatric Asthma: Results of a Medical Education Virtual Symposium and On-demand E-learning Programs

Background: Biologic therapies have been instrumental in improving symptom control in children with moderate-to-severe asthma. With the increasing number of biologics and continually emerging clinical and real-world data, we developed an educational program for clinicians focused on improving identification of pediatric patients that may benefit from an add-on biologic and how to integrate these therapies into clinical practice.

Methods: On October 24, 2022, a 60-minute CME-certified, virtual symposium titled “Enhancing Control, Maximizing Outcomes: Advancements in Care for Children With Inadequately Controlled Asthma” was live-streamed on AnswersinCME.com. This symposium was presented by two key opinion leaders in asthma–a pediatric pulmonologist and an allergist. It consisted of interactive components and included a video presentation from a parent of a child who suffers from severe asthma. The associated on-demand e-learning component was a 15-minute version of content from the 60-minute virtual symposium.
Impact of the educational activity was evaluated via: i) survey results assessing learner satisfaction, patient impact and practice change; and ii) changes in knowledge/competence using pre- versus post-test analysis that evaluated learners’ understanding at baseline versus post-education.

Results: As of April 10, 2023, total of N=3,302 learners participated in either the virtual symposium or the on-demand component and comprised 39% pediatricians, 35% pulmonologists and 24% allergists, among other specialties. Of these learners, n=1,117 were considered to have completed the activity; that data is presented herein. The combined positive response to “overall I was satisfied with this activity” was 92%. Based on learners’ self-report of the number of pediatric patients with asthma that they typically treat per week, 19,276 patients were potentially impacted. Vast majority (72%) of the learners communicated their intent to change their clinical practice behaviors following the activity. Learners indicated that they were more likely to intensify treatment using biologics (52% of learners) by evaluating patients that are most amenable to such treatment intensification (58% of learners).
Four pre- and post-test questions were asked of learners who participated in either the live virtual event or the on-demand program. The highest change in baseline knowledge/competence was related to a question about when to add a biologic therapy to asthma treatment; aggregate data analysis showed an overall improvement of 112% (relative change; P<.001). Regarding understanding of using biomarkers for therapy selection, there was an overall improvement of 68% (relative change; P<.001).

Conclusion: Following on the virtual education, clinician learners were better equipped and willing to identify pediatric patients with asthma that can benefit from addition of a biologic to the therapeutic paradigm. Learners also demonstrated improvements in understanding how to select a biologic for a patient in clinical practice. Further education addressing biologic selection in complex real-world scenarios would benefit clinician learners.