Education, MedicaliSTARTNCT02723136
Implementation of a Smartphone Application in Medical Education
A study testing Smartphone Application in people with Education, Medical, run by Universidad de Valparaiso at 1 site in Chile.
Trial summary
This study addresses the effectiveness of a smartphone application to improve academic performance among medical students. Participants will be randomised to receive an application developed by a team of physicians and engineers, designed to review key concepts in internal medicine and its subspecialties. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Education, Medical
- What is being tested?
- Smartphone Application
- Type of treatment
- Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 80 participants
- Where
- 1 siteChile
- Study dates
- Apr 2016to May 2016
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Medical student coursing their internship.
- Owns a smartphone with an Android® or iOs®-based operating system
Who cannot join
- Refusal to participate.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Implementing a Smartphone Application to Optimise Academic Performance Among Medical Students: A Randomised Trial
This study addresses the effectiveness of a smartphone application to improve academic performance among medical students. Participants will be randomised to receive an application developed by a team of physicians and engineers, designed to review key concepts in internal medicine and its subspecialties. The primary outcome will be the number of correct answers in a multiple choice test 4 weeks after randomisation.
Read the detailed description
Smartphones are devices that are commonly used by medical professionals. Their adoption by students and physicians is increasing, with reported use rates of roughly 85%. Reasons behind these implementation rates stem from their versatility, since this technology provides mobile communications and advanced informatics in a handheld device that can be used at the bedside. However, data regarding their use in medical education is scarce.
This study aims to address whether a smartphone application designed to review key concepts in internal medicine and its subspecialties might increase the overall academic performance of medical students. Eligible participants will be interns in their final year of study who own a smartphone with an operating system based in Android® or iOS®. Only those that do not wish to participate will be excluded from this trial.
All participants will undergo a baseline test aimed at addressing their knowledge of internal medicine and its subspecialties. Multiple choice questions will be used in this test, which have been developed by a team of internists with 5 years experience in formulating them. These questions have also been designed to resemble a national examination that is required to practice medicine in the Chilean Public Health System, and have shown a good correlation with performance in the latter exam in previous reports. In order to optimise adherence, the application will also provide feedback to its user, showing overall performance in terms of correct answers and time required to solve a clinical vignette.
After this test, participants will be randomised to receive the smartphone application by a statistician. Investigators will be kept unaware of the allocation sequence used in this trial. The contents of the application will include clinical vignettes that will review core concepts in internal medicine and its subspecialties. After 4 weeks, participants will undergo a second test and the overall performance between groups will be compared. Both outcome assessors and statisticians will be kept unaware of participant allocation. Data regarding the overall application use will be collected as well.
- Conditions
- Education, Medical
- Being tested
- Smartphone Application
- Keywords
- Smartphone, Internship, Internal Medicine
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Smartphone ApplicationDevice
Smartphone application developed by internists and engineers. Will be made available on iOS(R) and Android(R) operating systems.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Smartphone application | Experimental | Participants allocated to this arm will receive a smartphone application developed to assist and guide the study of internal medicine and its subspecialties. The application will provide feedback to participants regarding their overall performance in terms of correct answers and the overall time required to solve a clinical vignette. Receives: Device: Smartphone Application |
| Usual care | No intervention | Students allocated to this arm will not receive any further assistance in studying for this trial's tests. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Academic Performance
Overall percentage of correct responses in a standardised test.
Measured: 4 weeks after randomisation
Secondary outcomes (1)
Time to complete tests
Time required by students to complete a 90-question multiple-choice test.
Measured: 4 weeks after randomisation
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted30 Mar 2016 (estimated)
- Study startApr 2016
- Primary completionMay 2016
- Study completionMay 2016
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (5)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Education, MedicalStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind
- Who is masked
- Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Universidad de Valparaiso
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Laboratorio de Ingeniería y Tecnología (LABITEC)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Felipe Martinez, Universidad de Valparaiso
- Investigators
- Felipe Martinez, M.D., M.Sc., Principal investigator, Universidad de Valparaiso
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02723136
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- CEC098-16
- Acronym
- iSTART
- Status last verified
- May 2016
- First submitted
- 27 Mar 2016
- Last updated
- 17 May 2016
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: There is currently no plan to make individual participant data available.
Publications
Mosa AS, Yoo I, Sheets L. A systematic review of healthcare applications for smartphones. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2012 Jul 10;12:67. doi: 10.1186/1472-6947-12-67.
PubMed 22781312Shah J, Haq U, Bashir A, Shah SA. Awareness of academic use of smartphones and medical apps among medical students in a private medical college? J Pak Med Assoc. 2016 Feb;66(2):184-6.
PubMed 26819165Baumgart DC. Smartphones in clinical practice, medical education, and research. Arch Intern Med. 2011 Jul 25;171(14):1294-6. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.320. No abstract available.
PubMed 21788549Rung A, Warnke F, Mattheos N. Investigating the use of smartphones for learning purposes by Australian dental students. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2014 Apr 30;2(2):e20. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.3120.
PubMed 25099261O'Connor P, Byrne D, Butt M, Offiah G, Lydon S, Mc Inerney K, Stewart B, Kerin MJ. Interns and their smartphones: use for clinical practice. Postgrad Med J. 2014 Feb;90(1060):75-9. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2013-131930. Epub 2013 Nov 15.
PubMed 24243966
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 17 May 2016. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Implementing a Smartphone Application to Optimise Academic Performance Among Medical Students: A Randomised Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02723136
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- iSTART / CEC098-16
- Conditions
- Education, Medical
- Keywords
- Smartphone, Internship, Internal Medicine
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 80 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Universidad de ValparaisoUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Laboratorio de Ingeniería y Tecnología (LABITEC)
- Study start
- Apr 2016
- Primary completion
- May 2016 (actual)
- Study completion
- May 2016 (actual)
- First posted
- 30 Mar 2016 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This study addresses the effectiveness of a smartphone application to improve academic performance among medical students. Participants will be randomised to receive an application developed by a team of physicians and engineers, designed to review key concepts in internal medicine and its subspecialties. The primary outcome will be the number of correct answers in a multiple choice test 4 weeks after randomisation.
Detailed description
Smartphones are devices that are commonly used by medical professionals. Their adoption by students and physicians is increasing, with reported use rates of roughly 85%. Reasons behind these implementation rates stem from their versatility, since this technology provides mobile communications and advanced informatics in a handheld device that can be used at the bedside. However, data regarding their use in medical education is scarce.
This study aims to address whether a smartphone application designed to review key concepts in internal medicine and its subspecialties might increase the overall academic performance of medical students. Eligible participants will be interns in their final year of study who own a smartphone with an operating system based in Android® or iOS®. Only those that do not wish to participate will be excluded from this trial.
All participants will undergo a baseline test aimed at addressing their knowledge of internal medicine and its subspecialties. Multiple choice questions will be used in this test, which have been developed by a team of internists with 5 years experience in formulating them. These questions have also been designed to resemble a national examination that is required to practice medicine in the Chilean Public Health System, and have shown a good correlation with performance in the latter exam in previous reports. In order to optimise adherence, the application will also provide feedback to its user, showing overall performance in terms of correct answers and time required to solve a clinical vignette.
After this test, participants will be randomised to receive the smartphone application by a statistician. Investigators will be kept unaware of the allocation sequence used in this trial. The contents of the application will include clinical vignettes that will review core concepts in internal medicine and its subspecialties. After 4 weeks, participants will undergo a second test and the overall performance between groups will be compared. Both outcome assessors and statisticians will be kept unaware of participant allocation. Data regarding the overall application use will be collected as well.
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Double blind (investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Smartphone application | Experimental | Device: Smartphone ApplicationParticipants allocated to this arm will receive a smartphone application developed to assist and guide the study of internal medicine and its subspecialties. The application will provide feedback to participants regarding their overall performance in terms of correct answers and the overall time required to solve a clinical vignette. |
| Usual care | No intervention | –Students allocated to this arm will not receive any further assistance in studying for this trial's tests. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Medical student coursing their internship.
- Owns a smartphone with an Android® or iOs®-based operating system
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Refusal to participate.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Smartphone ApplicationSmartphone application developed by internists and engineers. Will be made available on iOS(R) and Android(R) operating systems. | Device | Smartphone application |
Primary outcome
Academic Performance
Time frame: 4 weeks after randomisation
Overall percentage of correct responses in a standardised test.
1 secondary outcome
Time to complete tests
Time frame: 4 weeks after randomisation
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 17 May 2016.
- Background: PubMed 22781312Mosa AS, Yoo I, Sheets L. A systematic review of healthcare applications for smartphones. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2012 Jul 10;12:67. doi: 10.1186/1472-6947-12-67.
- Background: PubMed 26819165Shah J, Haq U, Bashir A, Shah SA. Awareness of academic use of smartphones and medical apps among medical students in a private medical college? J Pak Med Assoc. 2016 Feb;66(2):184-6.
- Background: PubMed 21788549Baumgart DC. Smartphones in clinical practice, medical education, and research. Arch Intern Med. 2011 Jul 25;171(14):1294-6. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.320. No abstract available.
- Background: PubMed 25099261Rung A, Warnke F, Mattheos N. Investigating the use of smartphones for learning purposes by Australian dental students. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2014 Apr 30;2(2):e20. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.3120.
- Background: PubMed 24243966O'Connor P, Byrne D, Butt M, Offiah G, Lydon S, Mc Inerney K, Stewart B, Kerin MJ. Interns and their smartphones: use for clinical practice. Postgrad Med J. 2014 Feb;90(1060):75-9. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2013-131930. Epub 2013 Nov 15.
- National Examination that enables physicians to practice medicine in the public health systemLink provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. There is currently no plan to make individual participant data available.
Related trials for Education, Medical
Not yet recruiting
AI Smart Glasses Feedback for Intubation Training in Medical Students
Intubation, Intratracheal, Medical Education
Recruiting
Linking Education, Produce Provision, and Community Referrals to Improve Diabetes Care (LINK)
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Nutrition Poor
Not yet recruiting
Title of Study: Anesthesiologists' Learning Curves for Ultrasound Assessment of Difficult Airway
Airway Ultrasound, Difficult Airway Management
Not yet recruiting
Comparing the Efficacy of a Conversational Agent (QuitBot) Versus Standard Health Education on Smoking Cessation Among Medical Students in Cairo University
Conversational Agent, Smoking Cessation
Not yet recruiting
Generative AI-Assisted Personalized Feedback for Laparoscopic Skill Learning in Medical Undergraduates
Medical Education
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Felipe Martinez, M.D., M.Sc. principal investigator
Universidad de Valparaiso
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Smartphone Application in people with Education, Medical, run by Universidad de Valparaiso at 1 site in Chile.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 2 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 17 May 2016. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Chile. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Academic Performance (time frame: 4 weeks after randomisation). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02723136, which also lists 5 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 17 May 2016.