Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.

<h4>Introduction</h4>Regional anesthesia offers an alternative to general anesthesia and may be advantageous in low resource environments. There is a paucity of data regarding the practice of regional anesthesia in low- and middle-income countries. Using access data from a free Android a...

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Main Authors: Vanessa Moll, Edward R Mariano, Jamie M Kitzman, Vikas N O'Reilly-Shah, Craig S Jabaley
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244860&type=printable
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author Vanessa Moll
Edward R Mariano
Jamie M Kitzman
Vikas N O'Reilly-Shah
Craig S Jabaley
author_facet Vanessa Moll
Edward R Mariano
Jamie M Kitzman
Vikas N O'Reilly-Shah
Craig S Jabaley
author_sort Vanessa Moll
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Introduction</h4>Regional anesthesia offers an alternative to general anesthesia and may be advantageous in low resource environments. There is a paucity of data regarding the practice of regional anesthesia in low- and middle-income countries. Using access data from a free Android app with curated regional anesthesia learning modules, we aimed to estimate global interest in regional anesthesia and potential applications to clinical practice stratified by World Bank income level.<h4>Methods</h4>We retrospectively analyzed data collected from the free Android app "Anesthesiologist" from December 2015 to April 2020. The app performs basic anesthetic calculations and provides links to videos on performing 12 different nerve blocks. Users of the app were classified on the basis of whether or not they had accessed the links. Nerve blocks were also classified according to major use (surgical block, postoperative pain adjunct, rescue block).<h4>Results</h4>Practitioners in low- and middle-income countries accessed the app more frequently than in high-income countries as measured by clicks. Users from low- and middle-income countries focused mainly on surgical blocks: ankle, axillary, infraclavicular, interscalene, and supraclavicular blocks. In high-income countries, more users viewed postoperative pain blocks: adductor canal, popliteal, femoral, and transverse abdominis plane blocks. Utilization of the app was constant over time with a general decline with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The use of an in app survey and analytics can help identify gaps and opportunities for regional anesthesia techniques and practices. This is especially impactful in limited-resource areas, such as lower-income environments and can lead to targeted educational initiatives.
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spelling doaj-art-387eb4bc7b124e8d8bd5ff272df087cc2025-08-20T02:54:53ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01162e024486010.1371/journal.pone.0244860Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.Vanessa MollEdward R MarianoJamie M KitzmanVikas N O'Reilly-ShahCraig S Jabaley<h4>Introduction</h4>Regional anesthesia offers an alternative to general anesthesia and may be advantageous in low resource environments. There is a paucity of data regarding the practice of regional anesthesia in low- and middle-income countries. Using access data from a free Android app with curated regional anesthesia learning modules, we aimed to estimate global interest in regional anesthesia and potential applications to clinical practice stratified by World Bank income level.<h4>Methods</h4>We retrospectively analyzed data collected from the free Android app "Anesthesiologist" from December 2015 to April 2020. The app performs basic anesthetic calculations and provides links to videos on performing 12 different nerve blocks. Users of the app were classified on the basis of whether or not they had accessed the links. Nerve blocks were also classified according to major use (surgical block, postoperative pain adjunct, rescue block).<h4>Results</h4>Practitioners in low- and middle-income countries accessed the app more frequently than in high-income countries as measured by clicks. Users from low- and middle-income countries focused mainly on surgical blocks: ankle, axillary, infraclavicular, interscalene, and supraclavicular blocks. In high-income countries, more users viewed postoperative pain blocks: adductor canal, popliteal, femoral, and transverse abdominis plane blocks. Utilization of the app was constant over time with a general decline with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The use of an in app survey and analytics can help identify gaps and opportunities for regional anesthesia techniques and practices. This is especially impactful in limited-resource areas, such as lower-income environments and can lead to targeted educational initiatives.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244860&type=printable
spellingShingle Vanessa Moll
Edward R Mariano
Jamie M Kitzman
Vikas N O'Reilly-Shah
Craig S Jabaley
Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.
PLoS ONE
title Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.
title_full Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.
title_fullStr Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.
title_full_unstemmed Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.
title_short Regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by World Bank income category: A mobile health application data study.
title_sort regional anesthesia educational material utilization varies by world bank income category a mobile health application data study
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244860&type=printable
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