Cupping Therapy Simulation Course; A Pilot Study Assessing Self Reporting of Confidence, Expectations/Satisfaction and Performance

Abstract

This paper aimed to assess self-reporting of confidence, expectations/satisfaction, and performance of medical students before and after the cupping therapy simulation training course and to validate cupping simulation training evaluation questionnaire (CSTEQ). It was a pilot study to evaluate cupping therapy simulation course provided by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The number of participants was 29/41 (70.7%) (20 females and 9 males) before training and 20/41 (48.9%) (9 females and 11 males) after training who returned the (CSTEQ) questionnaire. A significant improvement of performance scale and total score were noted after the cupping simulation training. Significant differences in confidence (P=0.013), expectations/satisfaction (P=0.001), performance (P=0.007) and total scoring (P=0.001) between male and female medical students were noted in favor of males. We can conclude that medical students reported significant improvement in performance and overall scoring after cupping therapy simulation course. Cupping simulation training evaluation questionnaire (CSTEQ) may be a reliable test tool. Cupping therapy simulation course should be encouraged, updated and extended to satisfy the learning needs especially of the female medical student. Future large-scale studies were recommended.