Computer case-based reasoning simulation versus traditional lectures for medical interns teaching of diagnosis and antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infection: a comparative quasi-experimental study.

Autor: Jeddi FR; Health Information Management Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran., Momen-Heravi M; Infectious Diseases Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran., Farrahi R; Department of Health Information Technology, Ferdows Faculty of Medical Sciences, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran. Farrahir1@gmail.com.; Ferdows Faculty of Medical Sciences, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Imam Khomeini St, Ferdows, Southern Khorasan, 9771763931, Iran. Farrahir1@gmail.com., Nabovati E; Health Information Management Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran., Akbari H; Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran., Khodabandeh ME; Department of Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: BMC medical education [BMC Med Educ] 2024 Dec 18; Vol. 24 (1), pp. 1463. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Dec 18.
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-06453-4
Abstrakt: Background: Acute respiratory infections are a common presentation in clinical practice and medical interns must learn proper diagnosis and antibiotic prescribing. Traditional lecture-based teaching may not provide sufficient opportunities for students to apply their knowledge in realistic scenarios, whereas computer case-based simulations offer an alternative approach that allows active learning and decision-making in simulated patient cases. This study investigated the effectiveness of computer case-based reasoning simulation versus traditional lectures for medical interns teaching of diagnosis and antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections.
Methods: This comparative quasi-experimental study was conducted from 2020 to 2022 in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Shahid Beheshti Hospital, affiliated to Kashan University of Medical Sciences. The samples were selected using a convenience method and assigned to the intervention and control groups using a permuted block randomization approach. Over a period of ten months (Each month, an average of eight medical interns), a total of 40 medical interns received traditional lecture-based teaching, while another 40 medical interns were taught using a Computer Case-based Reasoning simulation. The medical interns' knowledge in both groups was assessed using pre- and post-tests. The collected data from the pre- and post-tests were then analyzed statistically using paired t-tests, independent t-tests, and ANCOVA.
Results: The posttest scores of the medical interns in both groups were significantly higher than the pretest scores (P < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed between the two teaching methods regarding mean knowledge gains in diagnoses and antibiotic prescribing practices. (P > 0.21). The results of the ANCOVA, after controlling for pre-test scores, showed no statistically significant difference between the two teaching methods in their effect on medical interns' diagnostic and antibiotic prescribing performance (P > 0.33).
Conclusion: The study found that both computer case-based reasoning simulation and traditional lectures were effective in improving medical interns' knowledge of diagnosis and antibiotic prescribing practices for acute respiratory infections. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the two teaching methods. Thus, computer- based simulation could replace face-to-face teaching when this method is impractical or computerized methods are more cost-effective.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was a part of PhD thesis in the field of health information management which was approved by the Ethics Committee of Kashan University of Medical Sciences with ethic code IR.KAUMS.MEDNT.REC.1398.141. Given that no identifying information about participants is disclosed in this paper, the medical interns’ agreement to participate in the teaching and test was considered as their implicit consent to participate in the study. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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