Trial reportJMIR mHealth and uHealth2019
Use of the Smartphone App WhatsApp as an E-Learning Method for Medical Residents: Multicenter Controlled Randomized Trial.
Trial report in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Comparison of ultrasonography learning between distance teaching and traditional methodology. An educational systematic review.Sao Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicinaPooled it
- Pedagogical impact of different levels of e-learning teaching during anesthesia residency: a randomized clinical trial.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- What's up with WhatsApp in supplementing surgical education: an objective assessment.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2022Trial
- Online case-based pediatric radiology learning in time-constrained residency.Pediatric radiology · 2026Article
- Design, implementation, and evaluation of IIIDDS: a structured WhatsApp case-discussion curriculum in undergraduate radiology education.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Unlocking the key requirements and capabilities for a training app on surgical tools and operating room equipment.BMC surgery · 2025Article
- Examining the impact of sleep deprivation on medical reasoning's performance among anaesthesiology residents and doctors: a prospective study.BMC anesthesiology · 2024Article
- Utility of instant messaging application, WhatsApp, as a tool to augment post-graduate radiology education.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Social media in anaesthesia education: Striking the right balance.Indian journal of anaesthesia · 2024Article
- Article
- Harnessing Social Media to Enhance Nephrology Academia.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2023Review
- The role of messaging services in day-to-day practice in pediatric neurosurgery, advantages of a bubble network, and an international survey.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2023Article
- Making the APPropriate choice: Utilization of a smartphone application to optimize antimicrobial decisions among internal medicine trainees.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2022Article
- WhatsApp Messenger use in oncology: a narrative review on pros and contras of a flexible and practical, non-specific communication tool.Ecancermedicalscience · 2021Review
- Learning with lockdown: Utility of whatsApp status-based multiple-choice question discussion on COVID-19 among medical students and teaching faculty.Journal of education and health promotion · 2021Article
- Impact of online communication and type of media formats in enhancing orthodontic patients' knowledge.Journal of orthodontic science · 2021Article
- [Twitter in cardiology : Tips and tricks].Herzschrittmachertherapie & Elektrophysiologie · 2020Review
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education of Plastic Surgery Trainees in the United States.JMIR medical education · 2020Article
- Association of Social Network Use With Increased Anxiety Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, and Emergency Medicine Teams: Cross-Sectional Web-Based Survey Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe WhatsApp smartphone app is the most widely used instant messaging app in the world. Recent studies reported the use of WhatsApp for educational purposes, but there is no prospective study comparing WhatsApp's pedagogical effectiveness to that of any other teaching modality.
objectiveThe main objective of this study was to measure the impact of a learning program via WhatsApp on clinical reasoning in medical residents.
methodsThis prospective, randomized, multicenter study was conducted among first- and second-year anesthesiology residents (offline recruitment) from four university hospitals in France. Residents were randomized in two groups of online teaching (WhatsApp and control). The WhatsApp group benefited from daily delivery of teaching documents on the WhatsApp app and a weekly clinical case supervised by a senior physician. In the control group, residents had access to the same documents via a traditional computer electronic learning (e-learning) platform. Medical reasoning was self-assessed online by a script concordance test (SCT; primary parameter), and medical knowledge was assessed using multiple-choice questions (MCQs). The residents also completed an online satisfaction questionnaire.
resultsIn this study, 62 residents were randomized (32 to the WhatsApp group and 30 to the control group) and 22 residents in each group answered the online final evaluation. We found a difference between the WhatsApp and control groups for SCTs (60% [SD 9%] vs 68% [SD 11%]; P=.006) but no difference for MCQs (18/30 [SD 4] vs 16/30 [SD 4]; P=.22). Concerning satisfaction, there was a better global satisfaction rate in the WhatsApp group than in the control group (8/10 [interquartile range 8-9] vs 8/10 [interquartile range 8-8]; P=.049).
conclusionsCompared to traditional e-learning, the use of WhatsApp for teaching residents was associated with worse clinical reasoning despite better global appreciation. The use of WhatsApp probably contributes to the dispersion of attention linked to the use of the smartphone. The impact of smartphones on clinical reasoning should be studied further.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.