Tools measuring high haptic fidelity of procedural skills trainers in physician training and education: a scoping review protocol

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to identify instruments that measure the physical haptic fidelity of procedural skills trainers.

Introduction: Procedural skills trainers have demonstrated beneficial outcomes for clinicians when used to practice and rehearse procedures. Despite this, several design flaws currently limit the widespread implementation of such trainers. One notable deficit in current trainer designs is haptic fidelity. Identifying measurements of haptic fidelity may maximize the benefit of using certain training devices as well as guiding future design.

Inclusion criteria: This review will consider studies that assess the high fidelity haptics of procedural skills training devices in adult physicians above the level of an intern physician. Studies that do not include physicians will be excluded.

Methods: The review will follow the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and will be reported in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Both published and unpublished studies will be searched for in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest), and Google Scholar. There will be no date, setting, or geographical limits, but only studies in English will be included.

Review registration: Open Science Framework osf.io/pvazu/.