Abstract
BackgroundSurgical residents underutilize opportunities for traditional laparoscopic simulation training. Serious gaming may increase residents’ motivation to practice laparoscopic skills. However, little is known about the effectiveness of serious gaming for laparoscopic skills training.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to establish construct validity for the laparoscopic serious game Underground.MethodsAll study participants completed 2 levels of Underground. Performance for 2 novel variables (time and error) was compared between novices (n=65, prior experience <10 laparoscopic procedures), intermediates (n=26, prior experience 10-100 laparoscopic procedures), and experts (n=20, prior experience >100 laparoscopic procedures) using analysis of covariance. We corrected for gender and video game experience.ResultsControlling for gender and video game experience, the effects of prior laparoscopic experience on the time variable differed significantly (F2,106=4.77, P=.01). Both experts and intermediates outperformed novices in terms of task completion speed; experts did not outperform intermediates. A similar trend was seen for the rate of gameplay errors. Both gender (F1,106=14.42, P<.001 in favor of men) and prior video game experience (F1,106=5.20, P=.03 in favor of experienced gamers) modulated the time variable.ConclusionsWe established construct validity for the laparoscopic serious game Underground. Serious gaming may aid laparoscopic skills development. Previous gaming experience and gender also influenced Underground performance. The in-game performance metrics were not suitable for statistical evaluation. To unlock the full potential of serious gaming for training, a more formal approach to performance metric development is needed.
Highlights
Simulation has been proven to be effective for laparoscopic skills training [1]
Video game experience was measured by asking all participants to estimate their average number of weekly gaming hours across several age-bands (1-6 years, 7-12 years, 13-18 years, 19-25 years, 26-45 years, and ≥46 years) [26]
No gender-based difference for video game experience was found in the expert group
Summary
Simulation has been proven to be effective for laparoscopic skills training [1]. due to scheduling constraints and motivational issues, simulation training opportunities for residents remain underutilized [2,3]. Serious gaming refers to the application or adaptation of computer games for nonrecreational purposes, such as learning, training, or therapy [8]. This can lead to “stealth learning” [9], where the trainee is enjoying the training so much that they fail to notice improvements in key education outcomes [10,11]. Due to these attributes, serious gaming is a good candidate to alleviate motivational issues. Little is known about the effectiveness of serious gaming for laparoscopic skills training
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