Evaluating the Effectiveness of Instructional Videos as a Tool for Teaching Orthopaedic Casting Technique: A Randomized Study Among Undergraduate Medical Students

Background Casting and splinting are crucial components of fracture management, making it essential for medical students to acquire proper application skills during their orthopaedic rotations. In this study, the authors aimed to investigate the potential enhancement of skill acquisition through the inclusion of an instructional video. Methods The study was conducted at a tertiary education centre in Malaysia in July 2015, and a convenience sampling of final-year medical students was used. The sample consisted of 108 students who were assigned into three groups. While all participants received a lecture on cast application, one group was provided with a sequential instructional video, and another group was guided using a segmented video. Subsequently, all participants were tasked with applying an above-elbow cast, and their performance was evaluated using a 14-item Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) score. Descriptive statistics were computed for all baseline demographic variables. To compare the scores among the different groups, a one-way analysis of variance was conducted. The correlation between the OSCE score and the teaching method was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results The mean age of medical students was 23 years, and 70 (64.8%) of the students were female. The mean OSCE scores were significantly higher in students exposed to instructional videos (group 2: 8.21 ± 0.92; group 3: 8.35 ± 0.86) compared to those who received only a lecture (group 1: 7.49 ± 1.03, p < 0.001). After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the teaching method emerged as the only significant predictor influencing OSCE scores. There was a positive correlation between the teaching method and the total OSCE score, with a correlation coefficient of 0.352 and p < 0.001. Conclusions The addition of instructional video teaching had a significant positive impact on the performance of above-elbow full cast application compared to relying solely on didactic teaching. Both sequential and segmented video demonstrations were effective in improving the outcomes of the technique.