Effect of Videogames on Real-life Triage Patterns

University of Pittsburgh

Status: Completed

Conditions: Trauma; Physician's Role

Treatments: Behavioral: Video games

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04516044

STUDY20070012

DP2LM012339 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

In 2016 and 2017 the investigators conducted two clinical trials in which emergency medicine physicians were randomized either to an intervention (customized, theoretically-based video games) or to a control (nothing or text-based education). This study will now assess long-term outcomes for physicians enrolled in those two trials to evaluate the effect of the interventions on triage practices for trauma patients who presented initially to non-trauma centers in the US between December 2016 and November 2018.

Enrollment: 686 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 25 to 100 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Participated in two prior clinical trials (Physician)
• ≥65 years old (Patient)
• enrolled in Medicare fee-for-service
• sustained a moderate-severe injury (i.e. ISS [injury severity score] >15) (Patient)
• treated by physician enrolled in prior clinical trials (Patient)

Exclusion criteria

• Did not participate in two prior clinical trials (Physician)
• <65 years old (Patient)

Trial design

686 participants in 2 patient groups

Video game

Description:

Patients treated by physicians who were randomized to either play an adventure-based video game that used narrative engagement to recalibrate physician heuristics in trauma triage or a puzzle-based video game that used analogical encoding to recalibrate physician heuristics in trauma triage.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Video games

Control

Description:

Patients treated by physicians who were randomized either to nothing at all or to a text-based educational program.