Effects of a Virtual Interactive System on Emergency Preparedness for Infectious Diseases: China

This randomized controlled trial, conducted from October to December 2023 at a secondary vocational school in Luzhou, Sichuan, evaluated the People's War Against Pandemic virtual interactive system for emergency preparedness and infectious disease health literacy among 120 adolescents aged 16 to 19. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=60), which received traditional lectures plus the system, or a control group (n=60), which received lectures only. Outcomes were self-reported questionnaires assessed at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 2 weeks after intervention, analyzed with repeated-measures ANOVA. All 120 participants completed the assessments.

Emergency preparedness scores rose in both groups, but the intervention group's scores were higher. At 4 weeks, the intervention group's mean on the EPQ-MEIDs was 221.00 versus 194.52 for controls. Health literacy scores also improved in both groups, with the intervention group significantly higher from 2 weeks onward. The system's usability averaged 85.75 on the System Usability Scale. The authors note that the intervention group received about 80 minutes of total education versus 40 minutes for controls, so the advantage may partly reflect time-on-task. The authors also state that outcomes were self-reported and that long-term efficacy was not assessed.