Continuing Medical Education

After evaluating an article designated for Continuing Medical Education (CME) in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), participants in the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) CME program should be able to show that their knowledge of clinical nutrition has increased. Participants should also be able to evaluate whether the clinical information provided in the CME-designated article is relevant to the provision of patient care.

Accreditation and credits

The ASN is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The ASN designates each CME program for 1 hour of category 1 credit toward the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician’s Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that he or she actually spent on the education program.

Instructions

Each issue of the AJCN will usually include at least 2 articles designated for CME credit. After reading the CME-designated article, select the best answer to each exam question listed below and complete the evaluation. To receive CME credit, you should return the exam and evaluation pages along with the CME Participant Response Form by May 31, 2007. Please fax the pages to the ASN at 301-634-7351 or mail them to the following address: American Society for Nutrition, CME Program, 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814. Note that all responses must be prepaid. Answers to the questions will be mailed to all participants, and certificates of credit will be sent to participants who successfully complete each exam. Please be sure to make a photocopy of the exam for your records before submitting it to the ASN.

Article: Boyle RJ, Robins-Browne RM, Tang MLK. Probiotic use in clinical practice: what are the risks? Am J Clin Nutr 2006;83:1256–64.

One hour of category 1 credit will be issued for successful completion of this entire exam.

CME exam

1. Which of the following is an accurate definition of the term probiotic?
   1. Food substances such as undigested starch that enhance the growth of protective intestinal bacteria and promote intestinal transit.
      
   2. Foods that enhance the regeneration of intestinal cells during intestinal infections.
      
   3. Live microorganisms that confer a health benefit to the host.
      
   4. Substances added to farm animal feeds that increase growth rates.
      
   
   
2. Which of the following clinical conditions is reported to increase the risk of bacterial sepsis during probiotic use?
   1. Use of parenteral nutrition in patients with short-bowel syndrome.
      
   2. Premature infancy.
      
   3. Chronic diarrhea associated with HIV infection.
      
   4. All of the above.
      
   5. None of the above.
      
   
   
3. Which of the following mechanisms may explain the protective effects of probiotics?
   1. Alteration of the composition of microbial species in the intestine.
      
   2. Decreased intestinal permeability to bacterial toxins.
      
   3. Inhibition of the intestinal inflammatory response to pathogenic bacteria.
      
   4. All of the above.
      
   5. None of the above.
      
   
   
4. Which of the following conditions has been shown to benefit from the use of probiotics?
   1. Pouchitis, ie, chronic inflammation of the ileal pouch of patients who have had surgical removal of the colon.
      
   2. Prevention of antibiotic-associated colitis during long-term antibiotic use.
      
   3. Infectious diarrhea in children.
      
   4. Atopic eczema.
      
   5. All of the above.
      
   6. None of the above.
      
   
   

CME exam evaluation

1. Were the CME program objectives successfully met?
   1. Yes
      
   2. No
      
   3. Partially (please explain)
      
   
   
2. Did you find this article and its CME questions relevant to your practice?
   1. Yes
      
   2. No
      
   3. Partially (please explain)
      
   
   
3. Will completion of this CME exam affect the way that you treat your patients?
   1. Yes (please explain)
      
   2. No
      
   
   
4. Was the information presented in this article objective, balanced, and free of commercial bias?
   1. Yes
      
   2. No
      
   
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