Clinical trial NCT06106178: A Novel Serious Game as an Alternative for Teaching Basic Point-of-Care Transthoracic Echocardiography Skills
Official title: A Novel Serious Game as an Alternative for Teaching Basic Point-of-Care Transthoracic Echocardiography Skills
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Echocardiography
Education, Medical
Keywords: Echocardiography
Education, Medical
Anesthesiology
Critical Care
Lead sponsor: Medical University of Vienna
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-10-30
Enrollment: 120
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 110
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Participants will attend a 90-minute workshop to learn the basics of point-of-care echocardiography. They will then be required to perform standardized transthoracic echocardiography before and after a two-week training period, which will be scored by blinded experts. During the training phase, one group will practice the hand-eye coordination required for echocardiography using an ultrasound simulator, while the second group will practice the same content using a serious video game. In addition, questionnaires will be used to collect additional data from the participants.
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The goal of this clinical trial is to compare different digital learning methods for teaching basic skills in point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography to medical students.

The main question it aims to answer is:

• Is a novel digital learning tool, such as a serious video game, non-inferior to traditional ultrasound simulator teaching methods in the context of basic point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography skills training?

Participants will train basic point-of-care ultrasound skills using either a traditional basic ultrasound simulator course or the serious video game "Underwater". Both methods focus on training hand-eye coordination, which is particularly important in transthoracic echocardiography. To compare the performance of the participants, a baseline assessment will be performed before and a final assessment after the two-week training period.

Detailed description: Point-of-care ultrasound education follows non-standardized teaching and learning methods. In many cases, ultrasound is practiced directly on patients without proper training, or ultrasound simulators are used. However, these simulators are expensive to purchase and are not always readily available to students. In addition, there are a growing number of new digital tools, such as serious video games, that aim to deliver the same content in a more accessible and cost-effective manner. However, in the field of point-of-care echocardiography, there is still little scientific evidence to support their use.

This single-blind, prospective, randomized, controlled, non-inferiority trial aims to demonstrate the non-inferiority of a serious video game compared to conventional simulator-based training of basic echocardiography skills to make ultrasound training more accessible to every trainee.

Only medical students who already have the necessary anatomical knowledge but no experience with ultrasound diagnostics will be recruited to participate in this study. Participants will attend a 90-minute workshop to learn the basics of point-of-care echocardiography. They will then be required to perform standardized transthoracic echocardiography before and after a two-week training period, which will be scored by blinded experts. During the training phase, one group will practice the hand-eye coordination required for echocardiography using an ultrasound simulator, while the second group will practice the same content using a serious video game. In addition, questionnaires will be used to collect additional data from the participants.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Medical student at the Medical University of Vienna (Medicine Degree Program)
* ≥18 years
* Basic knowledge of anatomy (completed Block 2 of the MUV curriculum)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Previous experience using an ultrasound device

Primary outcomes:
measure: Difference in the participants' modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) score between the baseline and final assessment
timeFrame: Two-week change from baseline to final assessment score
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Gender differences in modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) scores between the baseline and final assessment
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Group effects on gender differences in modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) scores
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Time to complete the baseline assessment
timeFrame: up to 10 minutes
measure: Time to complete the final assessment
timeFrame: up to 10 minutes
measure: Spearman correlation coefficients between the time taken and the participants learning progress
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Group difference in modified Objective Structured Assessment of Ultrasound Skill (OSAUS) score points for each objective
timeFrame: Two-week change from baseline to final assessment score
measure: Subjective confidence of participants in the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in the context of transthoracic echocardiography after the training period
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Group difference in cognitive load while performing the final assessment as opposed to the respective cognitive load at the baseline assessment
timeFrame: Two-week change from baseline to final assessment
measure: Group difference in cognitive load (per objective) while performing the final assessment as opposed to the respective cognitive load at the baseline assessment
timeFrame: Two-week change from baseline to final assessment
measure: Subjective desire for for more new digital tools in medical education before and after the training period
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Frequency of playing video games for fun in the past 12 months before the study
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Frequency of playing video games for educational purposes in the past 12 months before the study
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Frequency of playing video games for fun between the ages of 6 and 18
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Frequency of playing video games for educational purposes between the ages of 6 and 18
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for fun in the past 12 months before the study and the learning progress
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for educational purposes in the past 12 months before the study and the difference in the learning progress
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for fun between the ages of 6 and 18 and the difference in the learning progress
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for educational purposes between the ages of 6 and 18 and the difference in the learning progress
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for fun in the past 12 months before the study and the desire for more digital tools in medical education before and after the training period within the study
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for educational purposes in the past 12 months before the study and the desire for more digital tools in medical education before and after the training period within the study
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for fun between the ages of 6 and 18 and the desire for more digital tools in medical education before and after the training period within the study.
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Correlation between the frequency of playing video games for educational purposes between the ages of 6 and 18 and the desire for more digital tools in medical education before and after the training period within the study.
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Subjective feeling of learning progress during the training period
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Subjective level of frustration during the training period
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
measure: Subjective level of enjoyment during the training period
timeFrame: evaluation within 3 weeks after study completion
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Vienna
country: Austria
facility: Medical University of Vienna
Study officials:
References: