A Comparison of Online versus On-site Training in Health Research Methodology: A Randomized Study

BMC Medical Education

Table 2 Knowledge at Baseline, Immediately and 3 Months after Completion of Biostatistics and Ethics Courses.

Knowledge Domain	Time point	On-site Format Median (Range)	On-line Format Median (Range)	p value
Biostatistics	Pre-course	49% (16-79)	48% (14-79)	0.95
	Immediately after Course Completion	74% (17-100)*	58% (38-80)**	0.004
	Three months after Course Completion	64% (20-85)***	63% (28-85)***	0.78
	Median Knowledge Gain 3 Month Post Course vs. Baseline Assessment	16% (-17% to 49%)	12% (-10% to 65%)	0.59
Human Research Ethics	Pre-course	69% (36-89)	62% (40-89)	0.07
	Immediately after Course Completion	82% (44-93)*	77% (43-95)***	0.02
	Three months after Course Completion	83% (54-98)*	80% (32-100)*	0.69
	Median Knowledge Gain 3 Month Post Course vs. Baseline Assessment	17% (0% to 41%)	13% (-15% to 34%)	0.14

All data are shown as median (range).
All statistical comparisons were done using Wilcoxon's rank sum test.
*p < 0.001, **p = 0.009, ***0.005 compared to pre-course scores for the same domain and format

ISSN: 1472-6920