PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Newcomb, Tara L.
AU  - Bruhn, Ann M.
AU  - Ulmer, Loreta H.
AU  - Diawara, Norou
TI  - Performance of Dental Hygiene Students in Mass Fatality Training and Radiographic Imaging of Dental Remains
DP  - 2015 Oct 01
TA  - American Dental Hygienists Association
PG  - 313--320
VI  - 89
IP  - 5
4099  - http://jdh.adha.org/content/89/5/313.short
4100  - http://jdh.adha.org/content/89/5/313.full
SO  - J Dent Hyg2015 Oct 01; 89
AB  - Purpose: Mass fatality incidents can overwhelm local, state and national resources quickly. Dental hygienists are widely distributed and have the potential to increase response teams' capacity. However, appropriate training is required. The literature is void of addressing this type of training for dental hygienists and scant in dentistry. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess one facet of such training: Whether the use of multimedia is likely to enhance educational outcomes related to mass fatality training.Methods: A randomized, double-blind, pre- and post-test design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of comparable educational modules for 2 groups: a control group (n=19) that received low media training and a treatment group (n=20) that received multimedia training. Participants were second-year, baccalaureate dental hygiene students. Study instruments included a multiple-choice examination, a clinical competency-based radiology lab scored via a standardized rubric, and an assessment of interest in mass fatality education as a specialty. ANOVA was used to analyze results.Results: Participants' pre– and post–test scores and clinical competency-based radiology lab scores increased following both educational approaches. Interest in mass fatality training also increased significantly for all participants (p=0.45). There was no significant difference in pre- and post-test multiple choice scores (p=0.6455), interest (p=0.9133) or overall competency-based radiology lab scores (p=0.997) between groups.Conclusion: Various educational technique may be effective for mass fatality training. However, mass fatality training that incorporates multimedia is an appropriate avenue for training instruction. Continued research about multimedia's role in this specialty area is encouraged.