Smartphone Application for Breastfeeding Education in Medical Students

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of two educational interventions to enhance breastfeeding knowledge among senior medical students. One intervention consisted of a traditional face-to-face teaching lecture and the other consisted of the use of a smartphone application containing information about breastfeeding.

Detailed Description
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A quasi-experimental study was performed. Students were allocated to two groups; the first group underwent a 6-hour face-to-face breastfeeding course which was divided in four 1.5-hour sessions during a time span of two weeks. The second intervention consisted of downloading a digital smartphone application designed by the research team to teach proper breastfeeding concepts which participants freely navigated during the same time span of two weeks. Before and after each intervention, students answered a general breastfeeding knowledge test consisting of twenty multiple choice answers with a score range of 0 to 20. Statistical comparisons between pre- and post-test scores were performed in each group and mean change in scores was compared between them to establish which method was the most efficient. Moreover, amount of time spent on the application was descriptively measured.

Official Title
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Efficacy of a Smartphone App for a Breastmilk Feeding Course Among Sixth Year Medical Students

Conditions
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Medical Education

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Smartphone breastfeeding application
* Other: Traditional face-to-face breastfeeding lecture


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Senior adult medical students of any gender who at the time were enrolled on the Pediatrics biannual course during the July 2018 th -July 2019 th academic period. Provide verbal informed consent At least 18 years old Exclusion Criteria: Students who did not possess an electronic device (smartphone or tablet) or decided not to participate in the study. Rate of non-attendance to the general pediatric course greater than 50%

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Non-randomized quasi-experimental trial
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: Traditional face-to-face teaching method<br>In this arm, participants underwent a 6-hour traditional face-to-face lecture on breastfeeding education in a classroom at a university. Course was divided into 4 1.5-hour sessions during a time span of two weeks. | Other: Traditional face-to-face breastfeeding lecture<br>* This intervention consists of the impartition of a face-to-face breastfeeding course<br>|
| Experimental: Breastfeeding smartphone app<br>In this group, participants downloaded a smartphone application which contained an online breastfeeding education course. Participants freely navigated through the smartphone app during a time span of two weeks. | Other: Smartphone breastfeeding application<br>* This intervention consists of a smartphone application which contains relevant information and topics regarding proper breastfeeding knowledge for medical students.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Efficacy of each breastfeeding course evaluated by a quantitative general knowledge questionnaire | In order to measure this outcome, all participants answered a test consisting of a quantitative questionnaire of general breastfeeding knowledge before and after the intervention. This general knowledge test consisted of twenty questions with multiple choice answers ranging between two to five possible answers according to the nature of the question. It was designed by study researchers which included specialists in Pediatrics and breastfeeding and it was based solely on the course content. Minimum and maximum scores were 0 and 20, where a higher score indicated a better grade on the test. Central tendency and dispersion measures were obtained for pre- and post-test scores and a further statistical comparison between this parameters indicated whether there was a statistically significant difference. If the post-test score was statistically superior to the pre-test score, it was concluded that the intervention was efficient to improve breastfeeding knowledge. | 14 days | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Comparison of the efficacy of each breastfeeding course by comparison of mean differences | In order to measure this outcome, a mean difference between the post-test and pre-test scores was obtained for each group. Furthermore, these mean differences were compared to establish if the mean improvement in test scores was different between both interventions. If the mean change of one intervention was statistically superior to the other, it was assumed that the former intervention was more efficient to promote breastfeeding knowledge. On the contrary, if no statistical differences between the effects of both interventions on test scores were observed, it was assumed that no intervention was superior to the other. | 14 days | 
| Amount of time in minutes spent on the smartphone application | Study researchers had access to the amount of time in minutes that each student dedicated to studying on the smartphone application. Descriptive statistics with central and dispersion tendencies were obtained to evaluate this outcome. | 14 days | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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breastfeeding education, medical education