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Wounds and InjuriesNCT03138304

Trial of a Video Game Intervention to Recalibrate Physician Heuristics: A Followup Study

A study testing Video game and Educational program in people with Wounds and Injuries, run by University of Pittsburgh at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The objective of this study is to measure the duration of two different types of interventions to change physician decision making in trauma triage: a video game and an educational program. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Any age
Conditions the study is for
Wounds and Injuries
What is being tested?
Video game and Educational program
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
142 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
2 May 2017to 1 Jun 2017
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 Any age
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Physicians who care for adult patients in the Emergency Department.
  • Physicians who work at a non-trauma center.
  • Physicians who work at a Level III/IV trauma center.

Who cannot join

  • Physicians who work only at a Level I/II trauma center.
  • Physicians who do not practice in the US.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • University of Pittsburgh

    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15261

Other trials in United States

About this study

The objective of this study is to measure the duration of two different types of interventions to change physician decision making in trauma triage: a video game and an educational program.

Read the detailed description

Treatment at trauma centers improves outcomes for patients with moderate-to-severe injuries. Accordingly, professional organizations, state authorities, and the federal government have endorsed the systematic triage and transfer of these patients to trauma centers either directly from the field or after evaluation at a non-trauma center. Nonetheless, between 30 to 40% of patients with moderate-to-severe injuries still only receive treatment at non-trauma centers, so-called under-triage. Most of this under-triage occurs because of physician decisions (rather than first-responder decisions). Existing efforts to change physician decision making focus primarily on knowledge of clinical practice guidelines and attitudes towards the guidelines. These strategies ignores the growing consensus that decision making reflects both knowledge as well as intuitive judgments (heuristics). Heuristics, mental short cuts based on pattern recognition, drive the majority of decision making. The investigators developed an adventure video game (Night Shift) to serve as a novel method of recalibrating physician heuristics in trauma triage and compared its efficacy with a standard educational program. This study is designed to measure the degradation of the treatment effect.

Being tested
Video game, Educational program
Keywords
decision making, heuristics
Medical subject headings
Wounds and Injuries

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Video gameBehavioural

    Night Shift is an adventure video game with the transformational goal of teaching physicians key characteristics of patients with non-representative severe injuries - injuries classified by the American College of Surgeons as life-threatening or critical but that do not fit the archetype of injuries typically requiring treatment at a trauma center.

  • Educational programBehavioural

    Two commercially available applications designed to teach physicians the trauma triage guidelines disseminated by the American College of Surgeons.

Study groups in NCT03138304
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Adventure video gameExperimentalNight Shift is an adventure video game with the transformational goal of teaching physicians key characteristics of patients with non-representative severe injuries - injuries classified by the American College of Surgeons as life-threatening or critical but that do not fit the archetype of injuries typically requiring treatment at a trauma center. Players take on the persona of Andy Jordan, a young emergency physician who moves home after the disappearance of his estranged grandfather (Robert Jordan) and takes up a job in the local Emergency Department (ED). In the preamble, players learn they have two explicit objectives. First, they must diagnose and treat patients who present to their ED. Second they must solve the mystery of Robert's disappearance: was he murdered or has he simply chosen to disappear?
Receives: Behavioral: Video game
Educational ProgramActive comparatorThe educational module consists of two separate apps, both commercially available. myATLS includes a review of each chapter of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) textbook, a series of videos demonstrating common trauma procedures, and clinical resources including checklists for use at the bedside. Trauma Life Support MCQ Review includes 550 multiple-choice questions with correct answers and explanations. The investigators will ask physicians to review the myATLS app and then complete questions in the Trauma Life Support MCQ Review, spending at least 1 hour on the combined tasks.
Receives: Behavioral: Educational program

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Undertriage

    Physicians in both arms of the study will be asked to complete an outcome assessment tool - a virtual simulation - six months after completion of their intervention. The virtual simulation replicates the environment of the ED. Physicians have to manage 10 patients that appear concurrently, while also responding to a series of audio-visual distractors. Specifically, they must provide information on whether they will admit, transfer, or discharge the patients home. The investigators will calculate an under-triage rate for each physician (the number of simulated patients with severe injuries not transferred to a trauma center), will summarize the under-triage rate by group (Night Shift v. educational control), and will assess the difference in those rates.

    Measured: 6 months after completion of the intervention

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Undertriage for nonrepresentative and representative injuries

    We will categorize severely injured patients on the virtual simulation (the outcome assessment tool) as having representative or non-representative injuries. We will summarize the undertriage rate of representative/non-representative injuries by intervention, and will compare the difference in those rates between groups.

    Measured: 6 months after completion of the intervention

  2. Degradation in treatment effect

    We will compare the undertriage rate of physicians the first and second time they complete the virtual simulation (time zero = initial enrollment; time one = six months post intervention). We will compare the difference in the undertriage rates by intervention.

    Measured: 6 months after completion of the intervention.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted3 May 2017
  2. Study start2 May 2017
  3. Primary completion1 Jun 2017
  4. Study completion1 Jun 2017

Resources

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
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
142 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03138304
Sponsor's protocol ID
MOD16070572-03 / PRO16070572
Status last verified
Aug 2017
First submitted
30 Apr 2017
Last updated
24 Aug 2017
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: Researchers may contact the PI for access to deidentified participant data. It will be released conditional on IRB approval.

Publications

  • Mohan D, Farris C, Fischhoff B, Rosengart MR, Angus DC, Yealy DM, Wallace DJ, Barnato AE. Efficacy of educational video game versus traditional educational apps at improving physician decision making in trauma triage: randomized controlled trial. BMJ. 2017 Dec 12;359:j5416. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j5416.

    PubMed 29233854

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Video game and Educational program in people with Wounds and Injuries, run by University of Pittsburgh at 1 site in United States.

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 3 inclusion and 2 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 24 Aug 2017. 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 United States. 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?

Undertriage (time frame: 6 months after completion of the intervention). 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 NCT03138304, which also lists 1 linked publication.

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 24 Aug 2017.

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