Comparison of Educational Methods for Teaching Peripheral Blood Smears (PBS)

March 27, 2023 updated by: Anthony A. Donato, The Reading Hospital and Medical Center

A Randomized, Controlled Cross Over Trial of Two Educational Methods and Their Additive Effects in the Recognition of Abnormal Peripheral Blood Smears

This is a prospective, randomized controlled, crossover trial comparing the effectiveness one two curricular designs to teaching peripheral blood smears to residents.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

General Approach:

This study will employ a randomized, controlled design and will use as its outcomes two separate post-tests, one after the first teaching session and one 4 weeks after the second intervention.

Design The investigators are attempting to find whether the combination of basic science education using an 1-hour additive microskills- building method along with compare/ contrast model versus a 1-hour traditional case-based format would improve performance on a visual recognition test of hematology questions. A final test at 4 weeks after the cross-over between the two groups will also help investigators analyze whether the order of exposure to the teaching method would have an impact on the final performance.

Sampling, including sample size and statistical power:

Sample size will be between 40-50 resident physicians meeting inclusion criteria for the study. There is not enough data in the literature to effectively determine power, so we will use a convenience sample of the largest feasible group (around 40).

Collection of data:

Data will be collected on an excel spreadsheet and will be permanently de-identified on that spreadsheet; it will be kept on a password-protected site.

Information management and analysis software:

Data will be entered into a password protected excel spreadsheet and each study participant will be assigned a unique identifier code which will be used to link the data. Statistical analysis will be performed using SPSS version 20.

Data entry, editing and management, including handling of data collection forms, different versions of data, and data storage and disposition:

Paper surveys and tests will be collected, recorded and locked; they will be destroyed 2 years after termination of the study. A paired t-test will be used to compare the two samples means for significance.

Quality Control / Assurance:

Pretest and post-tests will be checked against a gold standard, a hospital board-certified hematopathologist, to check the quality of the slides.

Bias in data collection, measurement and analysis:

Given the small numbers of participants expected, a Type 1 error (failure to detect a difference in groups when one exists) is possible, as the study will possibly be underpowered.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • West Reading, Pennsylvania, United States, 19612
        • Reading Health System

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

26 years to 40 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Internal medicine and Family Medicine residents and faculty at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center having completed medical school

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Practicing/ board certified hematologists

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Group 1
Group 1 will receive 1 hour of compare-contrast basic science teaching of cell recognition to enhance recognition of those photographs, followed by 1 hour Case vignette-based teaching of cell recognition 2 weeks later
Other: Case vignette-based teaching of cell recognition
Intervention group members will be taught peripheral blood smears by using power point slides and utilizing additive microskills using the compare/ contrast technique to recognize various cell types. Memory will be reinforced by using cases to help recognize the clinical importance of learning about individual cell types.
Other: Compare-contrast basic science teaching of cell recognition
The control group will be given a traditional 60-minute lecture using board review questions with accompanying pictures of peripheral blood smears, without explaining individual cell type.
Active Comparator: Group 2
Group 2 will receive 1 hour of Case vignette-based teaching of cell recognition followed by compare-contrast basic science teaching of cell recognition 2 weeks later
Other: Case vignette-based teaching of cell recognition
Intervention group members will be taught peripheral blood smears by using power point slides and utilizing additive microskills using the compare/ contrast technique to recognize various cell types. Memory will be reinforced by using cases to help recognize the clinical importance of learning about individual cell types.
Other: Compare-contrast basic science teaching of cell recognition
The control group will be given a traditional 60-minute lecture using board review questions with accompanying pictures of peripheral blood smears, without explaining individual cell type.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Improvement in post test scores at 2 and 4 weeks after education
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Primary outcome was an improvement in test score from pre-test to 2 and 4-week post-test. All participants took a 15-question pretest in addition to a posttest at 2 and 4 weeks. Each test consisted of pictures of various cell types from the peripheral blood.
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The Reading Hospital and Medical Center

Investigators

  • Study Director: Anthony Donato, MD, The Reading Hospital and Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

February 12, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 30, 2015

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 5, 2015

First Posted (Estimate)

May 6, 2015

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 29, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2023

Last Verified

March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • TRHMC 016-12

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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