Continuing education intervention for primary health care professionals improves knowledge of noncommunicable diseases in Brazil

Objective: This study aimed to to evaluate the effectiveness of a continuing health education intervention of professionals involved in the Family Health Strategy of a municipality in Minas Gerais, Brazil, based on the 2021-2030 DANT Plan. Methods: This is a University Extension action called “Continuing Education in Health for Community Health Agents and Community: Non-Communicable Diseases and Conditions (NCDs)”, carried out between September and November 2024. The evaluation of the Extension Action was carried out through a questionnaire, on a 7-point Likert scale. The effectiveness of the action was evaluated using the paired t-test, comparing the average knowledge scores before and after the Extension Course, with a significance level of p<0.05. Results: The sample consisted of 27 professionals, 88.9% of whom were female, with a median age of 36 years. The average knowledge on the DANT theme before the Course was 4.44 points and after the 4 meetings, the average knowledge on the theme addressed was 6.37 points, observing a difference (p<0.001) between the average scores before and after the theme taught. Conclusion: The evaluation of the themes addressed during the Training Course demonstrated that they were effective in the acquisition of knowledge among the participants.