Evaluation of Training Methods Required for Military Women's Accurate Use of a Self-Diagnosis and Self-Treatment Kit for Vaginal and Urinary Symptoms.
Most military women are reluctant to attend sick call for urinary and vaginal symptoms during deployment; therefore, alternative self-care options are needed. We evaluated the type and intensity of training required for women to make accurate self-diagnosis and self-treatment decisions with the Women in the Military Self-Diagnosis (WMSD) Kit. The Kit contains commercially available diagnostic devices and the investigator-developed WMSD Decision-Making Guide. A randomized, two-factor, controlled trial design was used to compare accuracy rates among six experimental training conditions, ranging from simplest (videotape) to intensive (videotape + psychomotor skill training + cognitive rehearsal training). Standardized noninfectious specimens were used to measure diagnostic accuracy. The volunteer participants included Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine women (N = 265) aged 18 to 58 years. There were no differences in accuracy rates among the six levels of training intensity, thus predeployment training for accurate use of the Kit requires only a 23-minute videotape. Overall diagnostic accuracy was 80.8% and self-treatment accuracy was 79.9%, which exceed our criterion of ≥75%. Self-treatment commission error rate was 7.6% and omission error rate was 12.5%, which meet or exceed criteria of ≤10% and ≤15%. Briefly, predeployment training with the WMSD Kit shows great promise for improving military women's health during deployment.
Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Research Institute of Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus, OH 43205.
Nancy A
NA
Ryan-Wenger
University of Colorado Denver, College of Nursing, Mail Stop C288-18, Aurora, CO 80045.
Nancy K
NK
Lowe
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012648:Self Care; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult
D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic