TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of Basic Thoracic Ultrasound Skills in Immersive Virtual Reality
T2 - Gathering Validity Evidence
AU - Nielsen, Anders Bo
AU - Dragsbæk, Jonas
AU - Jacobsen, Niels
AU - Laursen, Christian B
AU - Farr, Amy
AU - Slavicky, Marek
AU - Konge, Lars
AU - Pietersen, Pia Iben
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - OBJECTIVE: Operator skills are essential for thoracic ultrasound (TUS) to ensure diagnostic accuracy. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) has shown potential within medical education but never for assessment of TUS skills. This study was aimed at developing an IVR test for assessing TUS skills, gathering validity evidence and establishing a pass/fail score.METHODS: An expert panel developed a test based on the TUS protocol by the European Respiratory Society (ERS), including a tutorial and two clinical cases (pleural effusion and interstitial syndrome), using an IVR platform (VitaSim, Odense, Denmark). Four anterior, four lateral and six posterior zones were available for examination and decision of diagnosis. Each correct examination equaled one point. The contrasting groups' method was used to set a pass/fail score.RESULTS: Data were collected during the 2022 ERS Congress. We included 13 novices (N, experience: 0 TUS), 22 intermediates (I, 1-50 TUS) and 11 experienced clinicians (E, >50 TUS). Cronbach's α was 0.86. The total mean point scores in case 1 (C1) were (N) 5.0 ± 2.7, (I) 7.3 ± 2.4 and (E) 8.7 ± 1.3, and the scores in case 2 (C2) were (N) 4.5 ± 1.8, (I) 6.7 ± 2.3 and (E) 8.5 ± 2.1. Significant differences were found between N and I for C1 (p = 0.007) and C2 (p = 0.02), I and E for C1 (p = 0.04) and C2 (p = 0.019) and N and E for C1 (p < 0.001) and C2 (p < 0.001). The pass/fail score was 7 points in each case.CONCLUSION: We established an IVR test that can distinguish between operators with different TUS skills. This enables a standardized, objective and evidence-based approach to assessment of TUS skills.
AB - OBJECTIVE: Operator skills are essential for thoracic ultrasound (TUS) to ensure diagnostic accuracy. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) has shown potential within medical education but never for assessment of TUS skills. This study was aimed at developing an IVR test for assessing TUS skills, gathering validity evidence and establishing a pass/fail score.METHODS: An expert panel developed a test based on the TUS protocol by the European Respiratory Society (ERS), including a tutorial and two clinical cases (pleural effusion and interstitial syndrome), using an IVR platform (VitaSim, Odense, Denmark). Four anterior, four lateral and six posterior zones were available for examination and decision of diagnosis. Each correct examination equaled one point. The contrasting groups' method was used to set a pass/fail score.RESULTS: Data were collected during the 2022 ERS Congress. We included 13 novices (N, experience: 0 TUS), 22 intermediates (I, 1-50 TUS) and 11 experienced clinicians (E, >50 TUS). Cronbach's α was 0.86. The total mean point scores in case 1 (C1) were (N) 5.0 ± 2.7, (I) 7.3 ± 2.4 and (E) 8.7 ± 1.3, and the scores in case 2 (C2) were (N) 4.5 ± 1.8, (I) 6.7 ± 2.3 and (E) 8.5 ± 2.1. Significant differences were found between N and I for C1 (p = 0.007) and C2 (p = 0.02), I and E for C1 (p = 0.04) and C2 (p = 0.019) and N and E for C1 (p < 0.001) and C2 (p < 0.001). The pass/fail score was 7 points in each case.CONCLUSION: We established an IVR test that can distinguish between operators with different TUS skills. This enables a standardized, objective and evidence-based approach to assessment of TUS skills.
KW - Competency
KW - Medical education
KW - Skill assessment
KW - Thoracic ultrasound
KW - Ultrasound
KW - Virtual reality
KW - Clinical Competence
KW - Reproducibility of Results
KW - Education, Medical
KW - Ultrasonography
KW - Virtual Reality
U2 - 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2023.12.002
DO - 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2023.12.002
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 38185537
SN - 0301-5629
VL - 50
SP - 467
EP - 473
JO - Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
JF - Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
IS - 4
ER -