# Impact of an online course on enhancing the diagnosis of Chagas disease in Latin America

## TL;DR

An online course significantly improved healthcare professionals' ability to diagnose Chagas disease using electrocardiograms in Latin America.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of an asynchronous online course in improving Chagas disease electrocardiogram diagnosis skills.

## Key findings

- Only 3.1% of participants answered at least half of the pre-test questions correctly, rising to 50.4% after the course.
- 82.1% of participants improved their answers after completing the course, regardless of their baseline characteristics.
- The course was effective across 21 countries and included 1656 participants, mostly physicians and nurses.

## Abstract

Chagas disease poses a public health problem in Latin America, and the electrocardiogram is a crucial tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of this pathology. In this context, the aim of this study was to quantify the change in the ability to detect electrocardiographic patterns among healthcare professionals after completing a virtual course.

An asynchronous virtual course with seven pre-recorded classes was conducted. Participants answered the same questionnaire at the beginning and end of the training. Based on these responses, pre and post-test results for each participant were compared.

The study included 1656 participants from 21 countries; 87.9% were physicians, 5.2% nurses, 4.1% technicians, and 2.8% medical students. Initially, 3.1% answered at least 50% of the pre-test questions correctly, a proportion that increased to 50.4% after the course (p=0.001). Regardless of their baseline characteristics, 82.1% of course attendees improved their answers after completing the course.

The implementation of an asynchronous online course on electrocardiography in Chagas disease enhanced the skills of both medical and non-medical personnel to recognize this condition.