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European Radiology
Published in: European Radiology 1/2018

01-01-2018 | Ultrasound

Development of a reliable simulation-based test for diagnostic abdominal ultrasound with a pass/fail standard usable for mastery learning

Authors: Mia L. Østergaard, Kristina R. Nielsen, Elisabeth Albrecht-Beste, Lars Konge, Michael B. Nielsen

Published in: European Radiology | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

This study aimed to develop a test with validity evidence for abdominal diagnostic ultrasound with a pass/fail-standard to facilitate mastery learning.

Method

The simulator had 150 real-life patient abdominal scans of which 15 cases with 44 findings were selected, representing level 1 from The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Four groups of experience levels were constructed: Novices (medical students), trainees (first-year radiology residents), intermediates (third- to fourth-year radiology residents) and advanced (physicians with ultrasound fellowship). Participants were tested in a standardized setup and scored by two blinded reviewers prior to an item analysis.

Results

The item analysis excluded 14 diagnoses. Both internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha 0.96) and inter-rater reliability (0.99) were good and there were statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) between all four groups, except the intermediate and advanced groups (p = 1.0). There was a statistically significant correlation between experience and test scores (Pearson’s r = 0.82, p < 0.001). The pass/fail-standard failed all novices (no false positives) and passed all advanced (no false negatives). All intermediate participants and six out of 14 trainees passed.

Conclusion

We developed a test for diagnostic abdominal ultrasound with solid validity evidence and a pass/fail-standard without any false-positive or false-negative scores.

Key Points

• Ultrasound training can benefit from competency-based education based on reliable tests.
• This simulation-based test can differentiate between competency levels of ultrasound examiners.
• This test is suitable for competency-based education, e.g. mastery learning.
• We provide a pass/fail standard without false-negative or false-positive scores.
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Metadata
Title
Development of a reliable simulation-based test for diagnostic abdominal ultrasound with a pass/fail standard usable for mastery learning
Authors
Mia L. Østergaard
Kristina R. Nielsen
Elisabeth Albrecht-Beste
Lars Konge
Michael B. Nielsen
Publication date
01-01-2018
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Radiology / Issue 1/2018
Print ISSN: 0938-7994
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1084
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-017-4913-x

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