Tutorless board game as an alternative to tabletop exercise for disaster response training: perception of interaction engagement and behavioral intention

BACKGROUND: Although tabletop exercise is a commonly used method for disaster response training, it is labor-intensive, requires a tutor for facilitation and may not be ideal in a pandemic situation. Board game is a low-cost and portable alternative that can be utilized for this purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare the perception of interaction engagement and behavioral intention to use a newly developed board game with tabletop exercise for disaster training.

METHODS: Using the Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics' (MDA) framework, a new, tutorless educational board game known as the Simulated Disaster Management And Response Triage training ("SMARTriage") was first developed for disaster response training. Subsequently, the perceptions of 113 final year medical students on the "SMARTriage" board game was compared with that of tabletop exercise using a crossover design.

RESULTS: Using Wilcoxon signed rank test, it was that found that tabletop exercise was generally rated significantly higher (with p