Study groups and methods: Study group I was comprised of 25 fourth-year students who successfully completed the Elective Osteoporosis Course I (focused on pathophysiology, diagnostics, and pharmacological treatment), while control group I was comprised of 25 fifth-year students who successfully completed only all required fourth- and fifth-year courses, but did not participate in the elective Osteoporosis I course. Study group II was comprised of 27 fourth-year students who successfully completed the Elective Osteoporosis Course II (focused on treatment of osteoporotic fractures), while control group II was comprised of 24 sixth-year students who were preparing for final exams in surgical disciplines, but did not participate in the Elective Osteoporosis Course II. The groups were compared using a linear regression model with robust estimation of standard errors using Stata 13.1. A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Study Group I scored, on average, 6.7 points higher than Control Group I on the multiple-choice test (scale -16 to +21). Study Group II scored, on average, 3.5 points higher than Control Group II on the multiple-choice test (scale -21 to +28). Both differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001, R2 = 0.64, 95% CI: 5.2-8.1; p = 0.006, R2 = 0.15, 95% CI: 1.1-5.9; respectively).
Conclusion: Results demonstrated a greater understanding in students who participated in problem-based learning medical studies relative to those who completed only the mandatory curriculum.
Copyright: © 2025 Hoffmanová et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.