Effect of virtual hybrid training on the effectiveness of personal protection training for medical staff: a randomized controlled trial

Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) plays a critical role in protecting healthcare workers during outbreaks of respiratory infectious diseases, thereby mitigating nosocomial transmission and ensuring the continuity of essential clinical services. This study compared non-face-to-face teaching with active training versus face-to-face teaching with active training for medical staff, focusing on proper PPE donning and doffing using the SPARID (Smart Platform for Training on the Prevention and Control of Virulent Respiratory Infectious Diseases) platform to enhance prevention and control of severe respiratory infectious diseases. Sixty participants were randomly assigned to two groups: (a) SPARID non-face-to-face teaching with active training, and (b) face-to-face teaching with active training. Adherence to the correct PPE donning and doffing protocol was assessed; theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and satisfaction were evaluated before and after training. At baseline, the two groups showed no significant differences in demographics, protection knowledge, or skills. Disease control ability improved in both groups post-intervention ( P < 0.05), but the intervention group outperformed the control group in protection knowledge, skills, and training satisfaction ( P < 0.05). The SPARID non-face-to-face active training exhibits superior effectiveness and higher satisfaction relative to face-to-face active training in the acquisition of skills for the proper donning and doffing of PPE. This study was registered as a randomized control trial at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) registry with the document number No.ChiCTR2400093398, 04/12/2024.