Abstract Coronaviruses are known to be responsible for infections in humans since the 1960s and have accounted for epidemics in recent human history. More recently, in 2019, a disease caused by a new coronavirus appeared in China, in the province of Wuhan, with a characteristic of greater infectivity, called COVID-19, which has caused a new world pandemic. Considering the need to contain the advance in the number of cases, based on the high rate of transmissibility, several countries have adopted extreme social distancing measures, including the so-called ‘lockdown’. Despite the socioeconomic side effects, the aforementioned measure reduced the progression of the pandemic in countries that adopted it. In Brazil, the state of Ceará was one of the first epicenters of the disease in the country and the state capital city of Fortaleza, on May 8, implemented the lockdown measure to contain the increase in the number of cases. It was then observed, in a tertiary hospital, which is a referral for COVID-19 cases, a decrease in the daily occupancy rate of beds reserved for the pandemic after the lockdown onset, evidencing that this measure leads to a sustainable reduction in bed occupation rates, thus preventing the collapse and overload in health services.

RESUMO Introdução A interpretação do eletrocardiograma (ECG) é fundamental para a identificação de doenças cardiovasculares, que estão entre as principais causas de morte no mundo. A aquisição dessa competência é essencial na formação do médico generalista, e o uso de novas ferramentas de ensino, apoiadas na tecnologia, como o mobile learning, pode facilitar a aquisição desse conhecimento. Objetivos Este estudo teve por objetivo desenvolver e avaliar a usabilidade e a potencialidade para o uso em educação médica de um aplicativo móvel de ensino para interpretação do ECG. Métodos Com a participação de dois professores da área da saúde e um da computação, um analista de sistemas, um programador e um designer gráfico, foi desenvolvido um aplicativo móvel para ensino da interpretação do ECG, utilizando-se a linguagem Java. Para análise de validação foram empregados um questionário de avaliação da usabilidade baseado no System Usability Scale (SUS) e um questionário utilizado para avaliar a adequação de softwares para uso em educação médica, previamente traduzido para o português e aplicado no Brasil. Resultados Foi desenvolvido o aplicativo “ECG Fácil” para uso off-line e de acesso gratuito nas plataformas iOS e Android. Na fase de validação do aplicativo, 109 discentes tiveram acesso livre ao aplicativo móvel durante seis semanas e depois avaliaram a usabilidade por meio de questionário baseado no SUS. As respostas ao questionário mostraram boa confiabilidade, conforme a análise de validação pelo coeficiente alfa de Cronbach (valor: 0,74), e o aplicativo apresentou excelente aceitação, com escore médio de 85,3 na escala SUS. Enquanto isso, 15 docentes avaliaram o aplicativo por meio do questionário utilizado para avaliar a adequação de softwares para uso em educação médica, tendo a maioria concordado com os itens que indicam que ele é adequado ao uso em educação médica. Conclusão O aplicativo “ECG Fácil” foi considerado de boa usabilidade pelos alunos e adequado à finalidade educacional pelos professores. Estudos futuros com esse aplicativo serão necessários para avaliar a aquisição e a retenção de conhecimento sobre a interpretação do ECG pelos alunos.

ABSTRACT Introduction The interpretation of the electrocardiogram (ECG) is fundamental for the identification of cardiovascular diseases, which are among the main causes of death in the world. The acquisition of this competence is essential in the training of the general practitioner and the use of new teaching tools, based on technology such as the use of mobile learning, can facilitate the acquisition of this knowledge. Objectives The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate the usability and the potentiality for the use in medical education of a mobile teaching application for ECG interpretation. Methods With the participation of two health professors and a computer scientist, a systems analyst, a programmer and a graphic designer, a mobile application was developed to teach ECG interpretation using the Java language. For validation analysis, a usability evaluation questionnaire based on the System Usability Scale (SUS) and a questionnaire used to evaluate the suitability of software for use in medical education, previously translated into Portuguese and applied in Brazil, were used. Results The “ECG Fácil” application was developed for off-line use and free access on iOS and Android platforms. In the validation phase of the application, a total of 109 students had free access to the mobile application for 6 weeks and then evaluated usability through a SUS-based questionnaire. The answers to the questionnaire showed good reliability, according to the validation analysis by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (value: 0.74), and the application presented an excellent acceptance with a mean score on the SUS scale of 85.3. Meanwhile, fifteen faculty members evaluated the application through the questionnaire used to assess the suitability of software for use in medical education, with most agreeing with items indicating that it is suitable for use in medical education. Conclusion The “ECG Fácil” application was considered to be of good usability by students and suitable for educational purpose by teachers. Future studies with this application will be needed to assess the acquisition and retention of knowledge about ECG interpretation by students.