Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Aug 17, 2020
Date Accepted: Jan 10, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jan 11, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Distance Learning of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale During the COVID-19 Pandemic, E-learning versus Video: a Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably altered the regular medical education curriculum while increasing the need for healthcare professionals. Senior medical students have been incrementally used on the front line to overcome the shortage of certified physicians. These students, some of whom will be fast-tracked as physicians, might lack knowledge regarding the initial management of time-critical emergencies such as stroke.
Objective:
Our aim was to determine whether an electronic learning (e-learning) module could improve distance knowledge acquisition of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) in senior medical students compared to the traditional didactic video.
Methods:
A randomized, controlled, data-analyst blinded web-based trial was conducted at the University of Geneva Faculty of Medicine between April and June 2020. Fifth year medical students followed a learning path designed to distantly learn the NIHSS. The control group followed the traditional didactic video created by Patrick Lyden while the e-learning group followed the updated version of a previously tested highly-interactive e-learning module. The main outcome was the score on a 50-question quiz displayed upon completion of the learning material. Difference in the proportion of correct answers for each specific NIHSS item was also assessed.
Results:
Out of 158 potential participants, 88 started their allocated learning path, and 75 completed the trial. Participants who followed the e-learning module performed better than those who followed the video (38 [95%CI 37 to 39] correct answers versus 35 [95%CI 34 to 36], P<.001). Participants in the e-learning group scored five elements better than the video group: key NIHSS concepts (P=.02), the consciousness – global item (P<.001), the facial palsy item (P=.04), the ataxia item (P=.03) and the sensory item (P=.04).
Conclusions:
Compared to the traditional didactic video, a highly-interactive e-learning module enhances distance learning and NIHSS knowledge acquisition in senior medical students.
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