Article ID: IJAE-D-19-00003
An education program on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis communication support was conducted for students on medical, nursing, rehabilitation, and clinical psychiatry courses. We investigated how the participants’ knowledge was maintained over time. A pre-/post-test was undertaken to evaluate knowledge acquisition through the program. The primary version consisted of 10 questions developed from 26 items extracted in a textbook (by Imura) and was applied to 23 students attending the same two sessions 6 months apart. The average pre-test score was 6.2 +/-2.1; the post-test score was 7.3 +/-1.6 (p = 0.023). However, no difference was evident in the pre-test and post-test scores between the two sessions. The test appeared able to detect knowledge acquisition following a single session; however, it was difficult for the participants to retain the knowledge acquired from a single session over a period of 6 months.