Randomized Controlled Trial to Assess the Educational Efficacy of a Serious Game for Teaching Insulin Therapy to Primary Care Physicians

Background: Physicians´ lack of knowledge contributes to underuse of insulin and poor glycemic control in adults with diabetes mellitus (DM). Traditional continuing medical education have limited efficacy, so new approaches are required.

Objective: We report the design of a trial to assess the educational efficacy of InsuOnline©, a game for education of primary care physicians (PCPs) on initiation and adjustment of insulin for the treatment of DM, which was designed to be: a) educationally adequate; and b) self-motivating and attractive.

Methods: A multidisciplinary team, with endocrinologists, experts in medical education, and programmers, was assembled for design and development of InsuOnline©, a serious game which includes game elements and a well-defined, evidence-based curriculum of topics on insulin therapy. The first step of our study will be usability and playability tests, with PCPs and medical students, playing the game on a desktop. After that and further adjusts, we will perform an unblinded randomized controlled trial, with PCPs who work in the city of Londrina, to assess the educational validity of the game. A group of 64 PCPs will play InsuOnline© on the web, and the control group, of 64 PCPs, will underwent traditional teaching activities (lecture and group discussion). Knowledge on how to initiate and adjust insulin will be assessed by a web-based multiple-choice questionnaire, and attitudes regarding diabetes/insulin will be assessed by Diabetes Attitude Scale 3, at 3 time points: before, immediately after, and 6 months after the intervention. Subjects´ general impressions on the interventions will also be assessed by free-text questions. Software logs will be reviewed.