JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

To avoid misuse of personal protective equipment (PPE), ensure healthcare workers’ safety and avoid shortages, effective communication of up-to-date infection control guidelines is essential. As prehospital teams are particularly at risk of contamination given their challenging work environment, a specific gamified electronic learning (e-learning) module targeting this audience might provide significant advantages as it requires neither the presence of learners nor the repetitive use of equipment for demonstration.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a gamified e-learning module could improve the rate of adequate PPE choice by prehospital personnel in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Methods:

This was an individual-level randomized, controlled, quadruple-blind (investigators, participants, outcome assessors and data analysts) closed web-based trial. All emergency prehospital personnel working in Geneva, Switzerland, were eligible for inclusion, and were invited to participate by e-mail, in April 2020. Participants were informed that the study aim was to assess their knowledge regarding PPE, and that they would be presented with both the guidelines and the e-learning module, though they were unaware that there were two different study paths. All participants first answered a pre-intervention quiz designed to establish their profile and baseline knowledge. The control group then accessed the guidelines before answering a second set of questions, and were then granted access to the e-learning module. The e-learning group was shown the e-learning module right after the guidelines before answering the second set of questions.

Results:

Out of the 291 randomized participants, 176 (60.5%) completed the trial. There was no significant difference in baseline knowledge between groups. Though the baseline proportion of adequate PPE choice was high (75% [50;75]), description of the donning sequence was in most cases incorrect. After either intervention, adequate choice of PPE increased significantly in both groups (P<.001). Though the median of the difference in the proportion of correct answers was slightly higher in the e-learning group (17% [8;33] versus 8% [8;33]), it did not reach statistical significance (P=.27). Confidence in the ability to use PPE was maintained in the e-learning group (P=.27) but significantly decreased in the control group (P=.04).

Conclusions:

Among prehospital personnel with an already relatively high knowledge and experience regarding PPE use, both web-based study paths increased the rate of adequate choice of PPE. There was no major added value of the gamified e-learning module apart from preserving participants' confidence in their ability of correctly using PPE. Clinical Trial: As the purpose of the study was to examine the effect of two different study paths only on providers' knowledge and attitude toward PPE, registration of the trial was not performed as it is not deemed necessary by the ICMJE.