Virtual patients are as effective as traditional education for knowledge outcomes (pooled SMD=0.11)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr3·q3
Currency · newest study 2019 · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Pooled analysis of trials comparing virtual patients with traditional education shows no clear knowledge advantage (SMD=0.11, 95% CI −0.17 to 0.39). → Kononowicz AA 2019
q3 i? Pooled analysis of randomized trials comparing virtual patients with traditional education shows no significant difference in knowledge outcomes (SMD=0.11, 95% CI −0.17 to 0.39). → Kononowicz AA 2019
Evidence¶
Kononowicz AA 2019¶
Kononowicz AA, Woodham LA, Edelbring S, Stathakarou N, Davies D, Saxena N, Tudor Car L, Carlstedt-Duke J, Car J, Zary N. (2019). Virtual Patient Simulations in Health Professions Education: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by the Digital Health Education Collaboration. Journal of Medical Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.2196/14676
q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r3
Meta-analysis (random-effects) of RCTs comparing virtual patients with traditional education on knowledge outcomes, pooled in Figure 2. The review reports "SMD=0.11, 95% CI −0.17 to 0.39, I2=74%, n=927", a small, non-significant difference; heterogeneity was high.
"The pooled effect for knowledge outcomes (SMD=0.11, 95% CI −0.17 to 0.39, I2=74%, n=927; Figure 2) suggests that virtual patient interventions are as efficient as traditional education."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Virtual patients blended with traditional education improve knowledge more than traditional education alone (pooled SMD=0.73) — related
- Virtual patients show larger advantages over passive traditional learning (lectures, reading) than over active learning — related
- Virtual patients more effectively improve skills than traditional education (pooled SMD=0.90) — related
- Virtual patient blended learning shows a moderate but non-significant pooled skills effect versus traditional education alone (SMD=0.60, CI crossing zero) — related
- In the few trials comparing them, virtual patients showed no significant knowledge differences versus other digital education, and skills differences in only one of three studies — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
vp-traditional-knowledge-no-difference |
aliases |
vp-vs-traditional-knowledge-no-difference |
title |
Virtual patients are as effective as traditional education for knowledge outcomes (pooled SMD=0.11) |
description |
Virtual patients are as effective as traditional education for knowledge outcomes (pooled SMD=0.11) |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2019 |
source_checked |
2026-10-18 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-17 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — kononowicz-aa-2019 |
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