Assessing the Comparative Effectiveness of Health Informatics Education: Knowledge Retention and Technological Awareness in Health Science Students
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 已完成
- 发起方
- 入组人数
- 34
- 试验地点
- 1
- 主要终点
- Change in Total Health Informatics Knowledge Score
研究概览
简要总结
This study evaluates the effectiveness of a blended Health Informatics (HI) course (HI471) on knowledge retention and technology awareness among health science students in Nepal. Bachelor of Public Health (BPH) students (intervention group, n=17) received a 14-week HI471 course combining online, virtual, and in-person practical sessions. A control group of Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) students (n=17) continued their standard curriculum without dedicated HI instruction. Both groups completed a validated 44-item knowledge assessment and an 11-item technology awareness survey at baseline (Week 1) and post-intervention (Week 15). The primary outcome was the between-group difference in knowledge gain scores. Results showed that BPH students significantly improved their total knowledge scores (median +31.5 points, r=0.879), while the B.Pharm control group showed no significant change. BPH students achieved 100% awareness of 9 out of 11 digital health tools at post-test. This study provides strong evidence that the HI471 blended course is highly effective in building informatics competencies in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) academic setting. The study was retrospectively registered.
详细描述
This controlled pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental study with a non-equivalent control group evaluated the effectiveness of the Health Informatics-471 (HI471) blended course at Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences (MBAHS) in Nepal. The intervention group (G1) consisted of all 17 Bachelor of Public Health (BPH) students enrolled in the 7th semester, who received the HI471 course. The control group (G2) consisted of 17 Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) 7th-semester students, randomly sampled from 29 eligible students, who received no dedicated HI instruction. The HI471 course integrated three blended modalities over 14 weeks: (i) online asynchronous LMS instruction (pre-recorded lectures, readings, quizzes), (ii) live synchronous Google Meet sessions, and (iii) in-person practical laboratory sessions covering EHR platforms, DHIS2, SPSS/R, and telemedicine interfaces. A validated 44-item Health Informatics Knowledge Assessment Tool (with weighted partial-credit scoring, maximum 100 points) and an 11-item binary technology awareness instrument were administered at T1 (Week 1, baseline) and T2 (Week 15, post-intervention). The primary outcome was the between-group difference in total knowledge gain scores (Δ = T2 - T1), analyzed using non-parametric statistics (Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon signed-rank, Friedman, McNemar) with bootstrap effect sizes. The study demonstrated large, significant knowledge gains in the intervention group (median +31.5 points, r=0.824, p<0.001) compared to the control group, with robust findings across three pre-specified sensitivity analyses. The intervention group achieved near-complete technology awareness (100% on 9 out of 11 tools). This research addresses the evidence gap for controlled educational evaluations in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) academic settings. The study protocol was approved by the MBAHS Institutional Review Committee (IRC-134-082-083), and all participants provided written informed consent. The study was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki (revised 2013). The study was registered retrospectively.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Non Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Other
- 盲法
- None
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 18 Years 至 65 Years（Adult, Older Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Active enrollment in the 7th semester of the Bachelor of Public Health (BPH) program (intervention group) or the Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) program (control group) at Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences (MBAHS).
- •Voluntary written informed consent obtained prior to any study procedure.
- •Completion of both T1 (Week 1, baseline) and T2 (Week 15, post-intervention) assessments.
排除标准
- •Withdrawal from the study before completion of all study procedures.
- •Incomplete paired data (missing T1 or T2 assessment).
结局指标
主要结局
Change in Total Health Informatics Knowledge Score
时间窗: Baseline (Week 1) to post-intervention (Week 15)
Measured using the Health Informatics Knowledge Assessment Tool (HIKAT) - a validated 44-item multiple-select instrument with weighted partial-credit scoring. Scores range from 0 to 100 points, where higher scores indicate better health informatics knowledge. Administered to both groups at T1 (Week 1, pre-test) and T2 (Week 15, post-test). The primary causal contrast is the between-group difference in gain scores (Δ = T2 - T1), analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test with bootstrapped effect sizes.
次要结局
- Domain-Specific Knowledge Gains Across Six HI Content Areas(Baseline (Week 1) to post-intervention (Week 15))
研究者
Dip Bahadur Singh
Principal Investigator
Axon Infotech Research Academy Pvt. Ltd.