A pilot study of a top-tier contraception simulation program to improve long-acting reversible contraception practices among health care trainees

Jessica M. Madrigal, Kelly Stempinksi-Metoyer, Camille A. Johnson, Ashlesha Patel*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Long-acting reversible contraception methods are effective tools in family planning. However, resident physicians and other health care trainees may experience knowledge gaps and low utilization because of limited opportunity for training. The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate self-assessed knowledge, counseling, and long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) device placement skills among health care trainees who attended a 1-day simulation-based training. In addition, we describe a simulation-based training program we developed to facilitate the use of LARC among health professionals. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional evaluation of health care trainees attending simulation-based training on 2 occasions in 2017 and one occasion in 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Participants rated their experience, comfort providing counseling, and placement skills with all LARC methods. Knowledge was measured using a series of multiple-choice questions. Responses to the survey were summarized using frequencies and percentages. Results: A total of 253 health care professionals attended the simulations, and 244 completed the presurvey (96.4% response rate). Of those, 172 respondents were health care trainees, of which a majoritywere resident physicians.More than half reported never using top-tier methods in practice. Most indicated moderate to low knowledge to counsel patients and low skills to place each of the devices before training; self-reported knowledge and skills increased after completing training. Presimulation knowledge scores ranged from 0 to 19, with a median score of 14 of 19 correct responses. After training, average scores increased by 3 points (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: One-day training events can provide didactic education and simulationbased skills training in device placement that may result in increased access among the patients served by these providers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)397-403
Number of pages7
JournalSimulation in Healthcare
Volume15
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2020

Funding

From the Division of Family Planning (J.M.M., K.S.-M., C.A.J., A.P.), John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County; Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (J.M.M.), School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago; Rush Medicine College (C.A.J.), Rush University; and Northwestern University (A.P.), Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. Correspondence to: Ashlesha Patel, MD, MPH, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Cook County Health and Hospitals System, 1950 W Polk, 7th Flr, Rm 7306, Chicago, IL 60612 (e‐mail: [email protected]). A.P. has received honoraria from Allergan, Bayer, and Merck. She has participated in Allergan's Speakers' Bureau for Liletta and has received research funding from Allergan and Bayer. She also is a clinical trainer for Merck. A.P. holds patents and trademarks for the company AP Designs, LLC. The other authors declare no conflict of interest. The training evaluated during this study received financial support from Bayer and Allergan along with administrative financial support from Merck to host each training. In addition, in-kind support was provided by Allergan, Bayer, CooperSurgical, and Merck on-site on training days as each company had representatives present and provided training materials. The sponsors had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation, or manuscript preparation. The sponsors, however, did review the manuscript before submission.

Keywords

  • Family planning
  • Intrauterine device
  • Long-acting reversible contraception
  • Mannequin-based simulation
  • Subdermal implant
  • Training

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Education
  • Modeling and Simulation

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