Protocol for educational programs on infection prevention/control for medical and healthcare student: A systematic review and meta-analysis

During the COVID-19 pandemic, infection protection/control education has become increasingly important for not only healthcare professionals but also students undertaking medical, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other related courses. A review of the literature on infection control education reveals that the target participants often comprise healthcare workers, and very few studies of infection control education focus on students. We have developed a protocol for the systematic review of the literature on simulation-based infection prevention/control education for students undertaking medical, nursing, rehabilitation, and other related courses. The protocol for the systematic review and meta-analysis has been drafted in alignment with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Systematic literature search will be performed for the period between 1990 (January) and 2022 (September) using the CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and Scopus databases. We will qualitatively and quantitatively examine the effects of simulation-based infection education for students in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Two investigators will independently search the databases according to the defined search strategy. The full-text of the selected articles will be screened independently keeping in mind the inclusion criteria by a pair of reviewers. Descriptive data will be extracted from each study regarding: study design, methods, participants, and outcomes. A meta-analysis will be performed if the quantitative data is suitable. Heterogeneity will be assessed using the standard χ2. Odds ratio for categorical data and weighted mean differences for continuous data and their 95% confidence intervals will be calculated and used for analysis. Where statistical pooling is not possible, the findings of the quantitative papers will be presented in narrative form. The qualitative aspect will employ narrative (descriptive) synthesis. Our review will make a valuable contribution to the domain of simulation-based infection prevention/control for students enrolled in medical and/or related courses.