A smartphone-based online platform for clinical skills training and assessment with standardized patients: platform development and pilot study outcomes.

There are limitations and difficulties in the management of traditional in-person standardized patient (SP) practice. The latest developments in online communication tools and the COVID-19 pandemic have promoted the needs for online clinical skills training objectively. However, existing commercial online platforms may not meet the requests for SP-based medical simulation. This paper described the methodology applied to develop a smartphone-based online platform for the management of clinical skills training and assessment with remote SPs, and aimed to determine whether this new platform is acceptable or useful through a pilot run in September 2020. The post-run survey including questionnaire inspired by technological acceptance model and determinants of the perceived ease of use was used to assess the acceptability and usefulness of the platform. Twenty four-year students of clinical medicine participated in the pilot study with twenty SPs and ten faculties. Data from the post-run survey showed that there was a general recognition that the platform is easy to use among all the users. Two questions regarding the usefulness of the platform showed significant differences between the SPs/faculties and the students. More SPs found the platform useful as a training method than the students did. The faculties showed more attempts than the students to use this platform for clinical skills training in the future. This smartphone-based online platform was widely accepted among the tested students, SPs and faculties, which meets the requests and challenges of the new era. It provides an effective approach for clinical skills training and assessment with remote SPs.

The association between adverse events of COVID-19 vaccination and anxiety and willingness to receive a booster dose.

Many countries have initiated a booster dose for COVID-19 vaccination. However, little is known about the association between adverse events to vaccination and individual psychological status and willingness to receive the booster dose. From December 1, 2021 to February 1, 2022, 474 participants answered a questionnaire in a university town in China, and information about previous adverse events, anxiety status, and vaccination intention were collected. Chi-square test and logistic regression models were used to analyze the factors associated with willingness to receive booster dose of vaccine. Previous adverse events, such as pain at the injection site, fatigue, muscle pain and headache were associated with anxiety of the participants. About 76.2% of the participants were willing to receive booster dose of vaccine. However, adverse event was not associated with their willingness to receive the booster dose. Participants with age ≤25 were less willing to receive the booster dose, although the association was not statistically significant in the multivariable model. In conclusion, the adverse events of COVID-19 vaccination were associated with psychology status of the vaccinated people. It is still necessary to strengthen the public education on COVID-19 vaccination to improve the vaccination willingness of people, especially among the young people.

Epidemiologic characteristics and influencing factors of cluster infection of COVID-19 in Jiangsu Province.

To understand the characteristics and influencing factors related to cluster infections in Jiangsu Province, China, we investigated case reports to explore transmission dynamics and influencing factors of scales of cluster infection. The effectiveness of interventions was assessed by changes in the time-dependent reproductive number (Rt). From 25th January to 29th February, Jiangsu Province reported a total of 134 clusters involving 617 cases. Household clusters accounted for 79.85% of the total. The time interval from onset to report of index cases was 8 days, which was longer than that of secondary cases (4 days) (χ2 = 22.763, P < 0.001) and had a relationship with the number of secondary cases (the correlation coefficient (r) = 0.193, P = 0.040). The average interval from onset to report was different between family cluster cases (4 days) and community cluster cases (7 days) (χ2 = 28.072, P < 0.001). The average time interval from onset to isolation of patients with secondary infection (5 days) was longer than that of patients without secondary infection (3 days) (F = 9.761, P = 0.002). Asymptomatic patients and non-familial clusters had impacts on the size of the clusters. The average reduction in the Rt value in family clusters (26.00%, 0.26 ± 0.22) was lower than that in other clusters (37.00%, 0.37 ± 0.26) (F = 4.400, P = 0.039). Early detection of asymptomatic patients and early reports of non-family clusters can effectively weaken cluster infections.