design and implementation of a digital escape room game for teaching pharmacy students about digoxin toxicity and its comparison with lecture-based teaching methods

Background: the aim of this study was to design and implement a web-based escape room game to teach pharmacy students about digoxin poisoning and to compare it with traditional lecture-based education in terms of learning and student interaction. method: this study was conducted at mazandaran university of medical sciences in 2023. a virtual escape room game was designed, featuring puzzles such as crossword puzzles, morse code, scrambled words, and other similar puzzles related to digoxin toxicity. pharmacy students were divided into two groups: one group played the virtual escape room, and the other one received a typical lecture on the same topic. pre- and post-tests were administered to both groups to assess knowledge gain. in addition, students in escape rooms completed a perception questionnaire to evaluate their satisfaction, motivation, and perceived value of the game. results: the digital escape room students (4.19 ± 1.3) showed a statistically significant (p<0.05) increase in knowledge scores compared to the lecture control group (3.68 ± 1.79). the perception survey recorded extremely high engagement and satisfaction scores, with students reporting that the game was an effective and enjoyable way to learn. conclusion: the virtual escape room was an innovative and effective pedagogical tool for teaching pharmacy students about digoxin toxicity. this teaching method presents a potential new option for teaching challenging clinical materials at pharmacy schools.