Randomised controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of a web based journal club to a standard journal club format to teach critical appraisal skills
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN91247307 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN91247307 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | 07-59 |
- Submission date
- 11/01/2008
- Registration date
- 13/02/2008
- Last edited
- 08/08/2008
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Not Applicable
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Record updated in last year
Plain English Summary
Not provided at time of registration
Contact information
Dr Robin McLeod
Scientific
Scientific
Mount Sinai Hospital
449 - 600 University Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
M5X 1G5
Canada
| Phone | +1 416 586 4800 ext. 8534 |
|---|---|
| rmcleod@mtsinai.on.ca |
Study information
| Study design | Multicentre randomised controlled trial. Programs randomly allocated by cluster randomisation to control or intervention group. Residents within the program will receive the same method of teaching. |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | Hospital |
| Study type | Diagnostic |
| Scientific title | |
| Study hypothesis | There is no rigorous study comparing the value of electronic teaching of critical appraisal skills to that of a conventional standard journal club format. We hypothesise that web based learning is as effective as a standard journal club format in teaching critical appraisal skills. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Ethics approval received from Mount Sinai Hospital Research Ethics Board on 3rd August 2007 (ref: 07-0171-E). |
| Condition | Teaching critical appraisal skills through web-based learning |
| Intervention | Please note that, as of 20/06/2008, the anticipated end date of this ISRCTN record has been updated from 31/12/2008 to 30/06/2009. Baseline data will be collected on the programs as well as the residents. The information will include the following: 1. Program: 1.1. Type of journal club currently in existence 1.2. Number of residents in the program 1.3. Current education intervention for teaching critical appraisal skills 1.4. Faculty with clinical epidemiology or health services research training and performing related research 1.5. Information related to format and faculty who will be involved in the standard journal club format (if randomised to this group) 1.6. List of all residents and their email addresses who will be participating in the trial 2. Residents: 2.1. Year of training 2.2. Previous training in clinical epidemiology 2.3. Previous exposure to critical appraisal teaching General Surgery Programs will be randomised to either the web based group or the standard journal club group: Web Based Group: 1. All residents in the program will receive EBRS packages through the internet only. No other critical appraisal journal club will be held 2. All participating residents will be registered with EBRS 3. The residents will be provided with instructions on how to access the EBRS website and will be able to download all articles and reviews from the site 4. A listserv discussion group will be set up for the residents in this group which will be facilitated by methodological and clinical experts 5. Each month the resident will receive email notification that the articles are available for reading 6. A clinical scenario will be posted on the listserv to start the discussion 7. At the end of the first week of the 2 week discussion, the clinical and methodological reviews will be posted 8. At the completion of the 2 week discussion, residents will have 2 weeks to complete an online monthly evaluation form Standard Journal Club Group: 1. All residents in the program will receive EBRS teaching in the standard journal club format. No other journal club will be held 2. Eight EBRS packages including all articles and reviews will be sent to the programs 3. Programs will be asked to set up a monthly journal club led by the general surgical staff. 4. Residents will be expected to have read the articles prior to each journal club and be prepared to discuss the articles in a seminar situation with prompts by the faculty member. They will receive the clinical and methodological reviews at the end of each journal club. 5. The residents will complete an evaluation at the end of each journal club and they will be returned to the administrative centre |
| Intervention type | Other |
| Primary outcome measure | All participating residents will complete a critical appraisal test within one month of completion of the EBRS packages. The critical appraisal test is a validated tool developed by the University of Toronto. The test will be administered by the individual general surgery programs in a 3-hour time slot in a designated examination room. The tests will be sent to the administrative centre at Mount Sinai Hospital and will be corrected by two of the investigators using a standardised exam key. |
| Secondary outcome measures | 1. Mean number of packages which each group completes 2. All residents will be asked to complete a survey which will assess the convenience, interest, relevance and educational value of EBRS and the format it is given in |
| Overall study start date | 01/10/2007 |
| Overall study end date | 30/06/2009 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Patient |
|---|---|
| Age group | Adult |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 200 |
| Participant inclusion criteria | 1. The general surgery program has an organised journal club in existence but is not currently using Evidence Based Reviews in Surgery (EBRS) packages 2. The program is willing and has the commitment to be randomised to either a web based or standard journal club format 3. The program has an administrative assistant who can liaise with the trial coordinator 4. Within the program, there are at least 10 residents who are agreeable to participating in the trial |
| Participant exclusion criteria | Currently or previously using EBRS packages. |
| Recruitment start date | 01/10/2007 |
| Recruitment end date | 30/06/2009 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Canada
- United States of America
Study participating centre
Mount Sinai Hospital
Toronto, Ontario
M5X 1G5
Canada
M5X 1G5
Canada
Sponsor information
Physician's Services Incorporated (PSI) Foundation (Canada)
Research organisation
Research organisation
1006 - 5160 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6L9
Canada
| Phone | +1 416 226 6323 |
|---|---|
| psif@psifoundation.org | |
| Website | http://www.psifoundtaion.org |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/0385yzn06 |
Funders
Funder type
Research organisation
Physician's Services Incorporated (PSI) Foundation (Canada) (ref: 07-59)
No information available
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | No |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Not provided at time of registration |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Not provided at time of registration |
| IPD sharing plan |
