254 - Firearm Safety Counseling: A Comparison Between A Virtual Educational Platform Versus an In-Person Workshop

Poster Number: 254
Publication Number: 254.419

Manju M. Korattiyil, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX, United States; Marisa Abbe, Children's Health, Dallas, TX, United States; Deja M. Eaton, Children's Health, Dallas, TX, United States; Sandra McKay, McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Missouri City, TX, United States

Background: Firearm- related deaths are the second leading cause of death in American children aged 1-17. Most notably, it has become the leading cause of death in children 11-19 years old, surpassing car crashes for the first time. Given the increase in firearm-related fatalities, firearm injury prevention should be a vital part of pediatric anticipatory guidance. Currently, there is a lack of universal firearm injury prevention education for pediatric residencies.

Objective: We compared the attitudes, knowledge base, and behavior patterns of pediatric residents on firearm safety counseling using an online educational platform versus an in-person workshop.

Design/Methods: Pediatric Residents from two different residency programs participated in a 2-hour multimodal workshop which included didactics, video, and role-play scenarios. One program participated in the in-person workshop and the other program was solely virtual. Participants were invited to complete a pre-workshop, post-workshop, and 3- and 6-month post workshop questionnaires. Data comparing pre-, post-, 3-month, and 6-month post-workshop practice patterns for the virtual workshop were analyzed via a one-sided t-test. Comparisons between both studies were reported as percentages and the fisher-exact test.

Results: With both workshops, there was a statistically significant increase in participant’s initiating conversations about firearms during their interactions with patients immediately post workshop, 3-month, and 6-month post workshop. For the in-person workshop, there was 1.3 times increase in comfortability versus a 2.5 times increase in comfortability asking about firearms in the virtual workshop.Conclusion(s): Both educational interventions improved pediatric residents' comfort level in discussing firearm safety. Given the new era of virtual learning, it is important to know that key educational points are not lost when transferred to an online platform.
Korattiyil, Manju_CVKorattiyil, Manju_CV.pdf
Figure 2: Firearm Counseling Patterns of Pediatric Residents