Effectiveness of the online-eLearning program KeepCoool at improving the vaccine cold chain in general practices

Anika Thielmann, Marie-Therese Schmitz, Thomas Welchowski and Birgitta Weltermann

PLOS ONE, 2024, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Background: Protecting vaccines from freeze damage is a poorly addressed problem. We describe the effectiveness of the eLearning KeepCoool on cold chain maintenance in general practices. Methods: For this intervention study, temperatures of vaccine refrigerators were logged at one-minute intervals. Personnel from practices with cold chain breaches was offered the eLearning. The primary outcome was the intervention’s effectiveness to achieve temperatures in the target range (2 to 8°C) in the sixth week (follow-up) compared to the first (baseline). Using continuous temperature data, a generalized additive model for location, scale and shape was estimated. Results: The practice response rate was 38% (64 of 168). At baseline, 73% of the practices and 68% of the refrigerators (51 of 75) showed cold chain breaches. 47% of the practices (n = 22 with 24 refrigerators) participated in the eLearning (55 physicians and practice assistants). At follow-up, 17% of those refrigerators were in the target range continuously, 38% reached targets 95% of the time while always >0°C, and temperatures ≤0°C decreased by 63%. Based on 2 million temperature data, the average Euclidian distance based on regression showed a significant improvement (p

Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0301847

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301847

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