A Study to Test a New Pelvic Examination Assessment Tool (PEAT)

A Study to Test the Validity and Reliability of an Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills in Pelvic Examination

The purpose of this study is to show that a new assessment tool for pelvic examination is valid and reliable.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Female Pelvic Examination
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Observed Structured Assessment Tool in Pelvic Examination

Detailed Description

Physical examination of the pelvis is an important core skill that medical students need to acquire. However, due to its intimate nature some students are graduating unable to perform competent pelvic examinations. At present, evaluation of the medical students competence at pelvic examination is done by subjective faculty assessment. This assessment is typically performed at the end of the teaching block and is based on the assessors' recollection of the students' performance. This kind of assessment has been shown to have poor validity and reliability. This is in contrast to objective structured assessments of technical skill (OSATS), which use task specific and global rating scales and have been used to evaluate a wide range of clinical and surgical skills. However, no studies to date have evaluated an assessment tool for pelvic examination. In this study the investigators aim to determine the validity and reliability of an OSATS for pelvic examination. In addition, the investigators aim to identify factors that influence the scores in OSATS.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 60

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • West Midlands
    • Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom, B15 2TG
      • Birmingham Womens Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Medical students and junior doctors will be approached by the clinical sub dean for O&G at Birmingham Women's Hospital (Justin Clark - chief investigator) during the beginning of their O&G placement. They will be made aware that outcome and assessment as part of the trial will not be incorporated into their final academic grade.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Final year medical students starting their Obstetrics and Gynaecology placement
• Final year medical students finishing their Obstetrics and Gynaecology placement
• Pre Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology registered junior doctors doing a Obstetrics and Gynaecology placement.
• Signed Consent Form

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Inexperienced students; Final year medical students at the end of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology placement	Procedure: Observed Structured Assessment Tool in Pelvic Examination; Participants will be asked to perform a pelvic examination including a speculum and bimanual examination on a pelvic model. They will be asked to approach the pelvic model as if it were a real patient.
Experienced students; Final year medical students at the end of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology placement	Procedure: Observed Structured Assessment Tool in Pelvic Examination; Participants will be asked to perform a pelvic examination including a speculum and bimanual examination on a pelvic model. They will be asked to approach the pelvic model as if it were a real patient.
Junior Doctors; Pre Royal College of Obstetric and Gynaecology registered junior doctors with experience in Obstetrics and Gynaecology	Procedure: Observed Structured Assessment Tool in Pelvic Examination; Participants will be asked to perform a pelvic examination including a speculum and bimanual examination on a pelvic model. They will be asked to approach the pelvic model as if it were a real patient.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Validity of assessment tool	Both validity and reliability are of equal importance so there will be two primary outcomes. Validity will be tested using the proxy measure of construct validity. This will be demonstrated if the results of the OSATS reflect the participant experience.	Day 1
Reliability of assessment tool	Reliability will be measured using inter-rater reliability between 3 assessors who will be blinded to the other assessors' marks.	Day 1

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Factors other than the stage in training that may influence proficiency in pelvic examination	We aim to identify other factors that may influence the participants' score in OSATS in pelvic examination. We will identify potential areas in a questionnaire administered to participant's prior the examination. This information will be collated before the examination in a participant information form. Information regarding gender, age, ethnicity, confidence in examination, interest in future career in obstetrics and gynaecology will be collected as secondary outcome measures.	Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Birmingham Women's NHS Foundation Trust
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Thomas J Clark, MBChB MD, Birmingham Women's NHS Foundation Trust

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 1, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 7, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 13, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): November 14, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): April 3, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 2, 2014
• Last Verified: June 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Validation; Reliability; OSAT; Pelvic Examination
• Other Study ID Numbers: PEAT