Preparing for obstetric anaesthesia-An educational randomised controlled trial comparing e-learning to written course...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anesthesiology
• E-learning

Background:

• E-learning is widely adopted in postgraduate medical education, offering personalized learning and interactive assessments.
• Existing meta-analyses suggest e-learning's effectiveness is comparable to traditional methods, but study quality varies.
• This study evaluates e-learning's impact on preparing participants for an obstetric anaesthesia course.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if e-learning modules better prepare obstetric anaesthesia course participants than self-study of written materials.
• To assess the impact of e-learning on knowledge acquisition, anxiety levels, and simulation performance.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial assigned second-year resident anaesthetists to e-learning or written materials for specific topics.
• The primary outcome was knowledge assessed via multiple-choice questions (0-35 score) post-e-learning and pre-course.
• Secondary outcomes included pre-simulation anxiety, simulation performance, and knowledge at 4 and 12 weeks post-course.

Main Results:

• A per-protocol analysis of 45 participants showed a statistically significant knowledge increase with e-learning (mean difference 1.8, p=0.002).
• The difference favored e-learning over written materials.
• No significant differences were observed in secondary outcomes (anxiety, simulation performance, delayed knowledge).

Conclusions:

• This blinded randomized controlled trial demonstrated that e-learning provides a statistically significant, albeit numerically small, knowledge advantage over written materials.
• E-learning is an effective tool for enhancing preparation in specialized medical training like obstetric anaesthesia.