ArticleBMC public health2016
Education on tick bite and Lyme borreliosis prevention, aimed at schoolchildren in the Netherlands: comparing the effects of an online educational video game versus a leaflet or no intervention.
Article in BMC public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of Digital Serious Games on Knowledge and Attitudes in Public Health Education: Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of the effectiveness and utility of Lyme disease prevention measures in Canada, the United States, and Europe.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- 'You adapt, and you try not to resent it': a qualitative study exploring impacts of living with ticks and barriers to adopting preventive measures in Canada.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Ticks and Tickborne Disease among Healthcare Professionals Working in Schools in New York and Maryland.The Journal of school nursing : the official publication of the National Association of School Nurses · 2024Article
- Public health education using social learning theory: a systematic scoping review.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Perception of risk among children: Exploring the risk of TB-rickettsial disease based on the children's drawing pictures in a Mayan community of Yucatan.Health promotion perspectives · 2023Article
- A One Health Evaluation of the Surveillance Systems on Tick-Borne Diseases in the Netherlands, Spain and Italy.Veterinary sciences · 2022Article
- Personal protection measures to prevent tick bites in the United States: Knowledge gaps, challenges, and opportunities.Ticks and tick-borne diseases · 2022Review
- Behavioral risk factors associated with reported tick exposure in a Lyme disease high incidence region in Canada.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Googling for Ticks and Borreliosis in Germany: Nationwide Google Search Analysis From 2015 to 2018.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Article
- Training intervention to improve hygiene practices in Islamic boarding school in Yogyakarta, Indonesia: A mixed-method study.PloS one · 2020Article
- Interventions to prevent Lyme disease in humans: A systematic review.Preventive medicine reports · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLyme disease or Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease both in the United States and Europe. Children, in particular, are at high risk of contracting LB. Since child-specific educational tools on ticks, tick bites and LB are lacking, we developed an online educational video game. In this study, we compared the effectiveness of an online educational video game versus a newly developed leaflet aimed to improve prevention of tick bites and LB among Dutch schoolchildren.
methodsA total of 887 children, aged 9-13 years and attending the two final years of primary schooling, were recruited from 25 primary schools in June and July 2012. They were assigned through cluster randomization to one of three intervention groups: 'game' (22.4%), 'leaflet' (35.6%) or 'control' (41.9%). Prior to and directly following intervention, the children were asked to complete a short questionnaire. The main outcome measures were knowledge, perception (perceived susceptibility and importance) and preventive behavior in relation to tick bites and LB. Generalized linear mixed models were used to analyze the data.
resultsIn the game group, the leaflet group and the control group, knowledge about ticks and tick bites improved significantly. The game was also an effective tool for improving preventive behavior; the frequency of checking for ticks increased significantly. However, there were no significant differences in knowledge improvement between the interventions. The game outperformed the leaflet in terms of improving preventive behavior, whereas the frequency of tick checks increased significantly. But this frequency didn't increase more than in the control group.
conclusionsThe positive knowledge effects observed in the control group suggests the presence of a mere measurement effect related to completion of the questionnaire. The game did not outperform the leaflet or control group on all outcome measures. Therefore, the game may be of value as a complementary role, in addition to other media, in child-specific public health education programs on ticks and LB. This trial was retrospectively registered on October 21, 2016 (trial registration number: ISRCTN15142369).
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