Education Program for Students in Multiple Health-care Fields to Support Communication with Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: - Can a Pre-/Post-test Evaluate Knowledge Gained through Education Sessions? -

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.