Clinical Ophthalmology (Aug 2022)

Video Game Warm-Up May Suggest Improvement in Ophthalmic Surgical Simulator Performance in Surgically Naïve Students

  • Khimani K,
  • Koshevarova V,
  • Mathew AA,
  • Gupta AK,
  • Schmitz-Brown M,
  • Gupta PK

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 2561 – 2568

Abstract

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Karima Khimani,1,* Victoria Koshevarova,2,* Alfred A Mathew,2 Akshaya K Gupta,1 Mary Schmitz-Brown,1 Praveena K Gupta1 1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA; 2School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Praveena K Gupta, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, 301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX, 77555-1108, USA, Tel +409 747 5823, Fax +1 409 747 5824, Email [email protected]: Long-term video game play and its effects on the skills used in surgical simulators have been previously studied, but little information is available about short-term video game warm-ups and subsequent ophthalmic surgical simulation performance. In this study, we hypothesize that a video game warm-up will improve performance on the Eyesi Ophthalmic Surgical Simulator.Methods: Twenty medical students with no prior surgical simulation experience were recruited for the study. Information regarding prior video game experience was gathered, and half of the participants were then randomly assigned to play a video game session prior to Eyesi performance. All subjects completed three sets of Eyesi modules, and the scores and time to completion were recorded. Bivariate analysis including Fisher’s Exact test and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used for statistical analysis.Results: The warm-up group scored higher in Navigation, Bimanual, and Forceps modules (33.6, 39.7, 7.2, respectively) compared to non-warm-up group (27.3, 27.3, 3.6, respectively). In addition, average times (sec) were lower (310.5, 117.4, 229.2, respectively) compared to non-warm-up group (321.9, 163.3, 235.8, respectively). It was also observed that significantly more participants in the warm-up group had reported a history of spending > 15 hours per week playing video games compared to the non-warm-up group (80% vs 20%, p=0.0402).Conclusion: In our pilot study, there appears to be a positive trend between video game warm-up and Eyesi simulation performance; however, no statistically significant difference was observed due to lower power. This trend can be explained by a greater collective video game experience within the warm-up group, mechanical factors (increased flexibility and grip strength after playing video games) and feeling more relaxed after the video game warm-up. Larger follow-up studies are needed to further investigate the relationship between short-term video game use on ophthalmic surgical simulation performance.Keywords: Eyesi, education, surgery, simulation, video game

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