University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Med Teach. 2011;33(9):731-7. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2010.542521. Epub 2011 Feb 28.
Life-support courses improve knowledge and skills but attrition of factual knowledge is considerable. There is evidence that retention can be improved by spaced testing.
To investigate the effect of spaced testing on retention of knowledge after a life-support course.
In a prospective-controlled trial using stratified randomization, 19 final-year medical students followed a half-day life-support course involving an identical written pre-test and end-of-course test consisting of a factual and a clinical case-based test (CCT). They were subsequently assigned to an intervention and a control group matched for the end-of-course test scores. The intervention group was given four unannounced spaced CCTs intermediate tests over 2 months. The control group took one intermediate test at 6 weeks. All students took a final retention test identical to the pre-test at 2 months.
Test performance improved equally in both groups immediately after the course. Students in the intervention group retained factual information significantly better than those in the control group. There was no difference in performance on the CCTs.
Unannounced spaced testing seems to have a positive effect on retention of factual knowledge after life-support courses. There was no evidence of an effect on clinical problem-solving ability.
生命支持课程可以提高知识和技能，但事实知识的遗忘相当可观。有证据表明，间隔测试可以提高保留率。
调查间隔测试对生命支持课程后知识保留的影响。
采用分层随机分组的前瞻性对照试验，19 名医学专业的最后一年学生参加了为期半天的生命支持课程，包括相同的书面预测试和课程结束测试，包括事实和临床基于案例的测试（CCT）。随后，他们被分配到干预组和对照组，根据课程结束测试成绩进行匹配。干预组在 2 个月内接受了四次未经宣布的间隔 CCT 中间测试。对照组在 6 周时进行了一次中间测试。所有学生在 2 个月后都参加了与预测试相同的最终保留测试。
课程结束后，两组学生的测试表现都有同等程度的提高。干预组学生在保留事实信息方面的表现明显优于对照组。在 CCT 上的表现没有差异。
未经宣布的间隔测试似乎对生命支持课程后事实知识的保留有积极影响。没有证据表明对临床解决问题能力有影响。
