Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2024
Date Accepted: Aug 17, 2025
Increasing Vaccination Awareness for Italian Primary Care Pediatricians: A Game Design and Usability Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Invasive meningococcal disease has a high fatality rate and can lead to severe long-term health issues. In Europe, serogroup B meningococcal disease (MenB) accounts for over half of invasive meningococcal disease cases. In Italy, MenB vaccination is recommended for all newborns, but uptake is below the Ministry of Health Vaccination Plan target.
Objective:
A serious game, Meningioca, was designed to increased primary care pediatricians’ (PCPs’) knowledge on the value and proper timing of MenB vaccination and to support communication of this value to parents.
Methods:
Meningioca was developed using Articulate, an authoring software, and released via the TalentLMS online platform. At launch, members of the Italian Federation of PCPs were invited to play the game via an email link and rated the game based on aspects such as overall enjoyment, the difficulty of modules, and usefulness of the game as a teaching tool.
Results:
Between March 2023 and May 2024, 471 PCPs accessed Meningioca, completing 1,206 modules and 483 hours of learning. Meningioca received a mean rating of 4.7/5 (five being the highest score), with many participants noting that they would recommend Meningioca to a colleague.
Conclusions:
User feedback from Meningioca’s first year suggest the game is enjoyable and a valuable learning tool for increasing PCPs’ knowledge on vaccination.
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