A randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of an interactive child pedestrian educational tool

Introduction Unintentional injury remains the leading cause of death among children in the United States. In children 5-8 years old, approximately 60% of pedestrian injuries and mortalities occur when the child is crossing a road. We hypothesize that in this randomized-controlled trial, the videogame (experimental) was more effective than traditional lecture (control) as an educational tool to train children, ages 5-8 years, in safe street-crossing behaviors. Methods After Institutional Review Board approval, students were randomized into either the control group or experimental group. After completion, students were tested on an interactive set that simulated a neighborhood with streets and intersections. Trained observers recorded whether students acted appropriately at each of the eight stations testing constructs covered by both the videogame and didactic. Frequencies were reported as numbers and percentages. Continuous normally distributed variables were compared using Student's t-tests and reported as means (standard error). All statistical analyses were performed using SAS v9.2 and all p-values are two-sided. Results Observations were held between April and November 2011. Seventy-nine students were enrolled across the five participating schools in Los Angeles County. Fifty-six percent of participants were male and 54% were enrolled in the second grade. The mean score for those who were in the didactic arm was 5.3 (SD=1.4) and 6.5 (SD=1.1) for those in the videogame arm (p-value = 0.0032). Conclusion Students who played the educational videogame performed better than students who underwent traditional didactic learning. Innovative educational methods and testing may be more effective in teaching children about pedestrian safety.