Southwest Medical University

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.

• Adolescents using the virtual system showed higher emergency preparedness scores than lecture-only controls at 4 weeks, with the intervention group at 221.00 versus 194.52 for controls.
• The emergency preparedness gain in the intervention group appeared faster than in the lecture-only group, with the intervention group's mean rising from 184.13 at baseline to 194.28 at 2 weeks.
• Health literacy scores in the intervention group were significantly higher than controls at 4 weeks (30.19 vs 25.90) and at the 2-week follow-up (29.80 vs 25.84).