title: The Value of E-Learning for the Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections.
abstract: BACKGROUND Healthcare workers (HCWs) lack familiarity with evidence-based guidelines for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). There is good evidence that effective educational interventions help to facilitate guideline implementation, so we investigated whether e-learning could enhance HCW knowledge of HAI prevention guidelines. METHODS We developed an electronic course (e-course) and tested its usability and content validity. An international sample of voluntary learners submitted to a pretest (T0) that determined their baseline knowledge of guidelines, and they subsequently studied the e-course. Immediately after studying the course, posttest 1 (T1) assessed the immediate learning effect. After 3 months, during which participants had no access to the course, a second posttest (T2) evaluated the residual learning effect. RESULTS A total of 3,587 HCWs representing 79 nationalities enrolled: 2,590 HCWs (72%) completed T0; 1,410 HCWs (39%) completed T1; and 1,011 HCWs (28%) completed T2. The median study time was 193 minutes (interquartile range [IQR], 96-306 minutes) The median scores were 52% (IQR, 44%-62%) for T0, 80% (IQR, 68%-88%) for T1, and 74% (IQR, 64%-84%) for T2. The immediate learning effect (T0 vs T1) was +24% (IQR, 12%-34%; P300 minutes yielded the greatest residual effect (24%). CONCLUSIONS Moderate time invested in e-learning yielded significant immediate and residual learning effects. Decision makers could consider promoting e-learning as a supporting tool in HAI prevention. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:1052-1059.
authors.affiliation: 1Faculty of Education,Health and Social Work,University College Ghent,Ghent,Belgium; Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,Ghent University,Ghent,Belgium.
authors.forename: Sonia O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Labeau
authors.affiliation: 2Critical Care Department,Vall d'Hebron University Hospital,CIBERES,Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona,Barcelona,Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rello
authors.affiliation: 3Department of Critical Care,Medical School,University of Athens,ATTIKON University Hospital,Athens,Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dimopoulos
authors.affiliation: 4Burns Trauma and Critical Care Research Centre,The University of Queensland,Brisbane,Australia.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lipman
authors.affiliation: 5Faculty of Health Sciences,Department of Nursing,Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University,Istanbul,Turkey.
authors.forename: Aklime
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarikaya
authors.affiliation: 5Faculty of Health Sciences,Department of Nursing,Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University,Istanbul,Turkey.
authors.forename: Candan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oztürk
authors.affiliation: 6Department of Patient Safety and Health Economics,Hasselt University,Diepenbeek,Belgium;Department of Public Health,Ghent University,Ghent,Belgium.
authors.forename: Dominique M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Vandijck
authors.affiliation: 7Department of Internal Medicine,Ghent University,Ghent,Belgium.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vogelaers
authors.affiliation: 7Department of Internal Medicine,Ghent University,Ghent,Belgium.
authors.forename: Koenraad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vandewoude
authors.affiliation: 4Burns Trauma and Critical Care Research Centre,The University of Queensland,Brisbane,Australia.
authors.forename: Stijn I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Blot
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020375:Education, Distance / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis