Teaching Glasgow Coma Scale Assessment by Videos: A Prospective Interventional Study among Surgical Residents

Abstract

Objective Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) assessment is vital for the management of various neurological, neurosurgical, and critical care disorders. Learning GCS scoring needs good training and practice. Due to limitation of teachers, the new entrants of the clinical team find it difficult to learn and use it correctly. Training through videos is being increasingly utilized in the medical field. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of video teaching of GCS scoring among general surgery residents. Materials and Methods A prospective study was done utilizing the freely available video at glasgowcomascale.org. The participants (general surgery residents, 1st–3rd year) were asked to assess and record their responses related to GCS both before and after watching the video. A blinded neurosurgeon recorded the correct responses separately. Statistical Analysis The difference between correct responses of the residents before and after watching the video was calculated using the “chi-square test.” p -Value ≤ 0.05 was taken as significant. Results There was a significant improvement in GCS scoring by residents after watching the videos ( p < 0.05). On estimating the responses separately, all the three responses (eye, verbal, and motor) improved significantly for 1st-year residents while only the motor response improved significantly for 2nd- and 3rd-year residents. The mode subjective improvement for the 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-year residents was 5, 4, and 3, respectively. Conclusion Training GCS scoring through videos is an effective way of teaching the surgery residents with maximum benefit to the junior-most ones.