Evaluation of educational technology on spotted fever: randomized clinical trial

Author(s)

Gabriela Rodrigues Bragagnollo

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2023-05-11

Examining board members

Beatriz Rossetti Ferreira; Luciana Mara Monti Fonseca; Marta Cristiane Alves Pereira; Wilsa Maria Ramos

• Advisor: Beatriz Rossetti Ferreira; Rosangela Andrade Aukar de Camargo

Abstract

The overall objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an Interactive Laboratory versus an Expository Classroom in acquiring cognitive knowledge about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) in high school and technical College students from two Brazilian cities in an endemic region. To achieve this, it was necessary to identify the population\'s prior knowledge, develop an intervention (methodological) and test it (clinical trial), which resulted in four articles and a scientific report. The first article is a methodological study, in which the path of the construction was presented, as well as the process of appearance, content, and semantic validation. The validation results showed a content validity index greater than 0.8 for the vast majority of the variables and the Interactive Lab was rated positively by the study participants. The second paper, also a methodological study, aimed to construct and validate a cognitive assessment questionnaire, called a RMSF Quiz, to assess the knowledge of participants before and after participating in the Interactive Lab. This Quiz achieved satisfactory agreement between the judges and the target population, which guarantees that it is an adequate instrument for the evaluation process on the investigated theme. The third article was an integrative literature review, which synthesized and interpreted studies on health education actions on RMSF. Systematic searches were performed in six databases, complemented by manual searches. The final sample was composed of five articles, analyzed according to the precepts of deductive content analysis. This review allowed us to identify that, despite the fact that discussions about health education in RMSF are of worldwide relevance for Health, there is still a scarcity of studies integrally focused on this practice. The fourth article was a randomized clinical trial evaluating the RMSF Interactive Lab. The study included 458 students divided into four groups: Intervention Group from city A that participated in the Interactive Lab; Comparison Group from city A that participated in the Lecture Class (health students); Intervention Group from city B that participated in the Interactive Lab; and Comparison Group from city B that did not participate in any Activity (students from various courses). The students\' knowledge was evaluated before and after the intervention with the application of the RMSF Quiz. The results of the intergroup comparison showed that the students who participated in the Interactive Lab had improved knowledge in most variables compared to the other groups, although knowledge also increased in the Comparison Group - Lecture Class. In the intra-group comparison, the students who participated in the Interactive Lab showed a significant gain in knowledge compared to the students who participated in the Lecture Class, and much greater than those who did not participate in any activity. Finally, in order to help promote health to RMSF, we realized the importance of developing an Educational Technology in audiovisual format. Thus, a set of four educational videos on RMSF for students aged 6 to 12 years, accompanied by a pedagogical manual for the teacher/educator, was built. It is an educational resource to be used in the classroom, so that the theme can be worked in a transversal way in schools to facilitate the construction of knowledge and strengthen the students\' empowerment in their health decisions. Taken together, the results obtained in this Thesis show the urgency of actions focused on this theme, evidencing the pioneering and innovation of the study. Thus, in addition to contributing to the literature, this work meets a social demand by developing an educational resource that addresses the health needs of a group, more specifically, a population living in a region considered endemic for RMSF. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/06485-0 - Evaluation of an original educational technology on spotted fever for health education
• Grantee: Gabriela Rodrigues Bragagnollo
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate