Improving pubertal health education for adolescent girls through a gamified learning approach.

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is a crucial phase in a person's life. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of gamification in the education of teenage females on pubertal health.

Methods: This clinical trial, conducted on 90 adolescent girls in XXX, XXX, during the 2023-2024 year, used a multistage cluster sampling method to assign participants randomly to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received weekly puberty health education over four weeks through a gamification platform. Data collection involved a socio-demographic questionnaire as well as puberty awareness and practice assessments, completed by both groups before the intervention, immediately, and one month after study.

Findings: The average puberty awareness and practice scores of the students in the intervention group significantly increased significantly, immediately and four-week after the intervention compared to the control group (P<0.001). The standardized effect sizes for awareness and practice were 0.74 and 0.25, respectively. In the intervention group, puberty awareness siginificanlty increased by 5.28 (95% CI:4.51 to 6.06) and 5.06 points (95%CI:4.31to 5.82) when comparing the two time periods before and immediately after, and before and four weeks after the intervention, respectively. Similarly, the puberty practice score significanly increased by 6.82 (95% CI:4.24 to 9.40) and 8.73 points (95% CI:5.94 to 11.51) in the same time comparisons (P<0.001).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the effectiveness of using gamification in puberty health education on increasing puberty awareness and practice among adolescent girls. This innovative educational approach can enhance puberty health education programs, leading to better health outcomes for adolescent girls.