Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Med Teach. 2010;32(7):562-8. doi: 10.3109/01421590903514630.
Virtual patients (VPs), high-fidelity simulators and standardized patients are powerful educational interventions leading to effective learning and supporting knowledge retention.
This study explored the variations in retention with VP versus regular learning activities.
We conducted a randomized controlled study on early and delayed assessment results of 49 students using VP for learning and examination of haematology and cardiology topics in an Internal Medicine course, by means of a 0-10 scoring rubric.
The mean difference for early assessment with VP (study--control mean score) was 1.43 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96, 1.91; p<0.001) for haematology and 1.34 (95% CI 0.93, 1.76; p<0.001) for cardiology. In regular exams, the mean score difference was 2.21 (95% CI 1.3, 3.1; p<0.001) and 1.52 (95% CI 0.76, 2.28; p<0.001), respectively. With delayed assessments, the difference in mean score for Web-SP was 1.48 (95% CI 1.09, 1.86; p<0.001), haematology and 1.16 (95% CI 0.74, 1.58; p<0.001), cardiology; for regular exams the figures were 1.96 (95% CI 0.93, 2.98; p<0.001) and 1.74 (95% CI 0.89, 2.58; p<0.001). The effect size ranged from 0.5 to 0.8.
Our results indicate better retention with VP than with traditional learning methods.
虚拟患者（VP）、高保真模拟器和标准化患者是强大的教育干预手段，可实现有效的学习并支持知识保留。
本研究旨在探讨 VP 与常规学习活动在保留率方面的差异。
我们对 49 名学生进行了一项随机对照研究，这些学生在内科课程中使用 VP 学习血液学和心脏病学主题并进行考试，使用 0-10 评分量表评估早期和延迟评估结果。
VP 早期评估的平均差异（研究-对照平均评分）为血液学 1.43（95%置信区间（CI）0.96，1.91；p<0.001），心脏病学 1.34（95%CI 0.93，1.76；p<0.001）。在常规考试中，平均分数差异分别为 2.21（95%CI 1.3，3.1；p<0.001）和 1.52（95%CI 0.76，2.28；p<0.001）。在延迟评估中，Web-SP 的平均分数差异为血液学 1.48（95%CI 1.09，1.86；p<0.001）和心脏病学 1.16（95%CI 0.74，1.58；p<0.001），常规考试的数字分别为 1.96（95%CI 0.93，2.98；p<0.001）和 1.74（95%CI 0.89，2.58；p<0.001）。效果大小范围为 0.5 至 0.8。
我们的结果表明，VP 比传统学习方法具有更好的保留率。
