NCT03608982

The Use of Simulated Patients During Basic-first Aid Courses for Laypeople

Completed NA Last updated 23 May 2022

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Simulated patient in Burns in 1,168 participants. Completed in 31 December 2020.

Timeline

1 September 2018

Primary endpoint
31 December 2020

31 December 2020

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, Belgium
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	double
Primary purpose	other
Enrollment	1,168
Start date	1 September 2018
Primary completion	31 December 2020
Estimated completion	31 December 2020
Sites	1 location across Belgium

Drugs / interventions tested

• Simulated patient
• No simulated patient

Conditions studied

• Burns — all drugs for Burns →
• Stroke — all drugs for Stroke →

Sponsor

Centre for Evidence-Based Practice, Belgium

Who can join

16 and older, any sex, with Burns or Stroke. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Background: Teaching first aid to laypeople is a cost-effective way to improve public health. However, it is currently unclear what the most effective ways are to teach first aid. It has already been shown that simulated patients have an added value in teaching emergency care to healthcare professionals.

This paper describes the protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial that will investigate the influence of using a simulated patient during basic first aid training for laypeople on laypeople's knowledge, skills and self-efficacy.

Hypothesis: The null hypothesis of this research is that the use of simulated patients during basic first aid training does not result in a statistically significant change in knowledge, skills and self-efficacy concerning the first aid topics for which a simulated patient is used. The alternative is that knowledge, skills and self-efficacy will be influenced by using simulated patients.

Methods: This study will be a cluster-randomized controlled trial, that will take place from September 2018 to June 2020. The study population will consist of employees taking a three day first aid certification course with the Belgian Red Cross. The employers requesting a first aid course will be randomised in receiving a course with or without simulated patient. The simulated patient will only be used for the topics first aid for burns and first aid for stroke in the intervention group. The participants will complete a questionnaire to measure their knowledge and self-efficacy before and after the course, and complete a practical skills test after the course testing these first aid topics. To test whether the retention of first aid knowledge and self-efficacy is influenced by using a simulated patient during a certification course, participants following a refresher course one year after the certification course will complete a follow-up questionnaire.

This cluster-randomized controlled trial will be, to the investigator's knowledge, the first to investigate the added value of simulated patients during first aid courses for laypeople.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Impact of the Use of Simulated Patients in Basic First Aid Training on Laypeople Knowledge, Skills, and Self-efficacy: A Controlled Experimental Study.
   Avau B, Vanhove AC, Scheers H, Stroobants S, et al · · 2022 · cited 6× · PMID 35921627 · DOI 10.1097/sih.0000000000000657