Many different teaching strategies are used to promote learning in an academic or professional environment. Among these can be noted the emergence of simulation, based on the concept of escape games.

To identify methodologies relating to the use, design, and implementation of escape games in health care.

The Pubmed, Embase, and CINAHL databases were searched up to December 3, 2018.

All studies focusing on the design or development of escape games in the health care field (published in English or French) were included.

For each study, the country, target population, design, development, method of evaluation, and results were extracted for analysis.

Seven poster abstracts and 9 published articles were included. Twelve escape games were developed in the United States. They were used in medicine (n = 5), pharmacy (n = 4), nursing (n = 4) and other fields (n = 3), mainly within academic teaching contexts (n = 12) but also in professional settings (n = 4). Their goals were to improve knowledge (n = 8), to increase participants' interest and motivation regarding a specific topic (n = 2), and to improve cohesion and communication within a team (n = 2). Ten of the escape games described in the articles were based on a clinical scenario. Ten of the research teams held debriefings with participants, and one did not; 5 articles did not report information about debriefing.

Few data exist concerning the use of escape games in the health care setting, and it is too early to judge the efficiency of this approach to learning. However, growing interest justifies systematic monitoring of the literature to follow the evolution of such strategies and to better understand their place in health care education.