Reasons for participation in and needs for continuing professional education among health workers in Ghana

The reasons for participation in continuing professional education (CPE) programs among health workers importantly determine the level of post-CPE application in daily servicing practice and finally the quality of health services. To categorize and distinguish type of reasons in an evidence-based manner, background factors associated with reasons were identified through conducting a census targeting the health workers in three regions of Ghana (N = 6696). The total number of subjects where health workers found CPE needs produced significantly positive odds ratios (OR > 1) with three reasons (‘to maintain and improve professional knowledge and skills’, ‘to interact and exchange views with colleagues’, and ‘to obtain a higher job status’) of four employed for this study. That implies that health workers with those reasons have more quantities of CPE needs. Conversely, the total number of subjects where health workers found CPE needs produced significantly negative odds ratio with ‘to gain relief from routine’ indicating it is an extrinsic reason. Therefore, whether ‘to gain relief from routine’ is chosen as a reason for participation could be criterion of differentiating between the types of reason.