Abstract
BackgroundThe increase in sleep disorders prevalence and the recognition of their consequences on public health has led to the huge development of sleep medicine. In France, a somnology training is now offered to residents and many physicians enrol in postgrade education. However, few sleep centers are accredited to deliver training on sleep investigations and clinical practice. Our objective was to develop a polysomnography scoring e-learning tool and to assess its impact on training of sleep medicine students.MethodsThe www.polysomnograph-e.fr website offers resources about polysomnography, tutorials explaining the sleep scoring rules, quizzes (release 1) and a complete overnight scoring module (release 2). We used the e-learning as part of the Lyon University Certification in sleep physiology and pathophysiology and evaluated student satisfaction as well as scoring performance using a standardized evaluation (10 points) between a promotion without e-learning (2017–2018, 46 students), with e-learning release 1 (2018–2019, 58 students) and with e-learning release 2 (2020–2021, 52 students) (Kruskall–Wallis test).ResultsFeedback from the students was very positive, with 90% of them considering the e-learning useful to very useful. Performances were significantly better for promotion 2020–2021 (median [IQR] = 8.75 [7.5–9.7]) than for promotion 2017–2018 (7 [5.9–8.7], P = 0.0007) and 2018–2019 (7.5 [6.5–8.1], p = 0.0003).DiscussionOnline training is effective for acquisition of sleep scoring technical skills. In the field of sleep medicine, targeted e-learnings may allow teachers to reallocate time to clinical training and contact with patients during internships.