An Educational Intervention for Acute Dizziness Care: A Randomized, Vignette-based Study

Importance: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a common cause of acute dizziness. Strong evidence exists for diagnosing BPPV using the Dix-Hallpike Test (DHT) and treating it with the canalith repositioning maneuver (CRM). Despite this, both are infrequently used in the emergency department (ED). Objective: As an early method to evaluate a BPPV-focused educational intervention, we evaluated whether an educational intervention improved ED provider performance on hypothetical stroke and BPPV cases delivered by vignette. Design: A randomized, controlled, educational intervention study in ED physicians. The intervention aimed to promote the appropriate use of the DHT and CRM. A BPPV vignette, a stroke-dizziness (safety) vignette, and vignette scoring schemes (higher scores indicating more optimal care) used previously established vignette methodology. Setting: We recruited participants at the exhibitor hall of an emergency medicine annual meeting. Participants: We recruited 48 emergency physicians. All were board certified or residency trained and board eligible. All were engaged in the active practice of emergency medicine. None were trainees. Interventions: Intervention group: a narrated, educational presentation by computer followed by the clinical vignettes. Control group: Received no educational intervention and completed the clinical vignettes—intended to mirror current clinician practice. Main Outcome Measure: Primary endpoint: total score...
Source: Otology and Neurotology - Category: ENT & OMF Tags: VESTIBULAR DISORDERS Source Type: research