The effect of live and web-based education on the accuracy of blood-loss estimation in simulated obstetric scenarios

Abstract

Objective: Visual estimation of blood loss has been shown to be inaccurate. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a didactic training program on the accuracy of the estimation of blood loss and to compare the effectiveness of training provided by a web-based vs live session. Study Design: Multidisciplinary labor and delivery unit personnel participated in live or web-based training. Both sessions comprised a 5-station pretest and posttest. The primary outcome was the accuracy of estimated blood loss in the pretest compared with the posttest with the use of the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Among 372 providers, the median improvement between pre- and posttest results was 34% (95% confidence interval, 10-57%; P < .001). This improvement did not differ significantly between the live sessions and web-based sessions (4%; 95% confidence interval, -10% to 12%). Conclusion: Our study supports the use of live or web-based training to improve blood loss estimation accuracy. © 2010 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.