JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There are no studies that have compared the effectiveness of collaborative versus traditional clinical simulation

Objective:

To determine the effectiveness of collaborative clinical simulation versus traditional clinical simulation in developing clinical competence in undergraduate physical therapy students in the care of standardized patients with low back pain flare-ups.

Methods:

This is a comparative experimental study. Thirty-one physical therapy undergraduate students were randomized (1:1) to a collaborative or traditional simulation intervention group. Students underwent three weeks of clinical simulation training. A standardized patient with low back pain flare-ups was evaluated before and after clinical simulation training. Clinical competence, effective communication, and therapeutic alliance were evaluated.

Results:

Both collaborative (MD = 5.3 ± 4.8, p < 0.001) and traditional simulation (MD = 8.4 ± 6.2, p < 0.001) groups demonstrated statistically significant improvements in clinical competence post-intervention; however, no significant differences were found between groups (p = 0.34). Similarly, significant pre-post improvements were observed in clinical reasoning for both collaborative (MD = 3.3 ± 2.5, p = 0.01) and traditional simulation (MD = 5.4 ± 3.8, p < 0.001) groups, with no intergroup differences (MD = -0.4, d = 0.14, p = 0.59). Neither intragroup nor intergroup differences were detected in effective communication or therapeutic alliance.

Conclusions:

Collaborative simulation effectively develops physical therapy clinical competencies, comparable to standardized patient simulation. Strategic implementation, tailored to learning objectives, optimizes skill development. Further research is warranted to assess its efficacy in diverse clinical settings. Clinical Trial: 10.17605/OSF.IO/YFWHT