Treatment of ano-genital warts: the effect of an educational event on practitioner choice

Abstract

To determine whether an educational event can affect treatment choice for ano-genital warts, genitourinary medicine clinicians attending a wart management lecture were shown 14 photographs of genital warts of differing morphology at different sites and asked to choose their preferred method of treatment. Study questionnaires were completed pre-lecture and repeated after the lecture and discussion. Podophyllin was chosen significantly less frequently and cryotherapy more frequently post-lecture for certain wart types. Podophyllotoxin was favoured for multiple small penile and posterior fourchette warts, whereas imiquimod was chosen predominantly for large or bulky lesions. Trichloracetic acid was infrequently chosen as a treatment option (<6% of respondents). This study has shown that clinicians attending a lecture on the management of ano-genital warts do change their treatment choice for certain clinical scenarios. Whether opting for a particular treatment in a lecture setting translates to altered practice in the clinical setting requires further study.