Audience response system smartphone application as an adjunct to tuberculosis teaching for medical students during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: The growing availability of devices for mobile learning has created new opportunities for teaching. With the development of smartphone apps based on audience response systems, there is a possibility to quickly assess student knowledge. The education of health professionals, including medical students, is an essential strategy for tuberculosis control. In the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, audience response systems are very useful as online assessment tools. The aim of this study was to use the audience response systems Socrative to assess medical students during a class on tuberculosis. METHODS: This is a quasi-experimental before-and-after study, with pre- and post-tests carried out through the Socrative app, respectively, before and after a lecture on tuberculosis for medical students. Also, a cross-sectional study was carried out after the course to evaluate the participant's satisfaction through an electronic, structured questionnaire with a Likert-type scale. RESULTS: A total of 126 students were included in the study. The overall mean pre- and post-test scores were 5.98±1.59 and 8.37±1.36, respectively, with a statistically significant difference (p<0.0001). Almost all students were totally satisfied with the use of Socrative on pre- and post-tests. CONCLUSION: This study describes how the use of Socrative in a tuberculosis class was well received by students. In addition, the baseline knowledge on tuberculosis was low in some topics, with some improvement after the lecture. These findings emphasize the need to further improve the students' knowledge on tuberculosis and help instructors customize the lecture based on the gaps identified in the Socrative assessment.

Audience response system smartphone application as an adjunct to tuberculosis teaching for medical students during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The growing availability of devices for mobile learning has created new opportunities for teaching. With the development of smartphone apps based on audience response systems, there is a possibility to quickly assess student knowledge. The education of health professionals, including medical students, is an essential strategy for tuberculosis control. In the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, audience response systems are very useful as online assessment tools. The aim of this study was to use the audience response systems Socrative to assess medical students during a class on tuberculosis. METHODS: This is a quasi-experimental before-and-after study, with pre- and post-tests carried out through the Socrative app, respectively, before and after a lecture on tuberculosis for medical students. Also, a cross-sectional study was carried out after the course to evaluate the participant's satisfaction through an electronic, structured questionnaire with a Likert-type scale. RESULTS: A total of 126 students were included in the study. The overall mean pre- and post-test scores were 5.98±1.59 and 8.37±1.36, respectively, with a statistically significant difference (p<0.0001). Almost all students were totally satisfied with the use of Socrative on pre- and post-tests. CONCLUSION: This study describes how the use of Socrative in a tuberculosis class was well received by students. In addition, the baseline knowledge on tuberculosis was low in some topics, with some improvement after the lecture. These findings emphasize the need to further improve the students' knowledge on tuberculosis and help instructors customize the lecture based on the gaps identified in the Socrative assessment.

Decrease in Health-Related Quality of Life and Post-COVID-19 Syndrome in Health Care Workers After SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to assess the persistence of symptoms, the prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome, and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among health care workers (HCWs) 6 months after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted. All HCWs with confirmed COVID-19 from January to June 2021 were invited to participate. Health-related quality of life was evaluated in three moments: before COVID-19, after COVID-19 (on return to work), and after 6 months. Persistence of symptoms post-COVID-19 was also assessed. RESULTS: There was a worsening in all dimensions of HRQOL. After 6 months, self-rated health on EuroQol visual analog scale did not return to pre-COVID-19 values. At total, 36.2% of HCWs were diagnosed with post-COVID-19 syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant deterioration in HRQOL among HCWs who had COVID-19 and a high frequency of post-COVID-19 syndrome.

The use of information and communication technology in continuing education in tuberculosis.

Introduction: The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) tools has been impacting health care. Distance learning has been used for the continuing improvement of healthcare workers (HCWs). In this systematic review, we evaluated the use of ICT in tuberculosis (TB) continuing education. Methods: We searched Medline and Embase for cross-sectional studies that included HCWs or students, and that reported participants' learning level. Results: Four studies proved eligible. Three used online educational tools, and another one used CDroms and live video conferencing. All studies evaluated participants' learning level through online pre- and post-tests. The quality of the studies was high. Conclusions: There is a paucity of studies evaluating distance learning in TB training. Continuing education of students and HCWs is essential for TB control. Accomplishing this is critical in increasing the skills and the numbers of qualified HCWs capable of meeting the health care needs of the population.

Tuberculosis in Health Care Workers and the Impact of Implementation of Hospital Infection-Control Measures.

Background: Most studies that have evaluated the impact of infection-control measures (ICM) reported a decrease in latent tuberculosis (TB) and not in TB. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of ICM on TB incidence among Health Care Workers (HCW's). Methods: We conducted a retrospective record review study in a general, tertiary care, university-affiliated hospital. All TB case reports among HCWs in the hospital from 2005 to 2018 were reviewed. The TB incidence was measured before and after 2012 to evaluate the impact of ICM implemented. Findings: In total, there were 53 TB cases. The number of TB cases before and after the implementation of ICM was 42 (incidence: 100.0 cases/100,000 HCWs/year) and 11 (incidence: 26.2 cases/100,000 HCWs/year), respectively (p < .0001). Conclusions/Application to Practice: TB incidence among HCWs reduced significantly after the implementation of ICM. The establishment of ICM, such as written TB infection control plan, monitoring, screening, training, and education, can reduce TB incidence.