Cardiothoracic Critical Care as Subspecialty and Its Core Competencies

Delphi Study for Evaluation of Cardiothoracic Critical Care as a Subspecialty and Its Core Competencies

The aim of this study is to develop a consensus on the curriculum for training cardiothoracic critical care by first evaluating the need for the field, based on a Delphi consensus among a panel of experts in this field.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Consensus Development
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Delphi Questionnaire

Detailed Description

This study will use the Delphi process to conduct this study. This survey research involves Phase 1 and Phase 2 of questioning, each phase involves up to 3 rounds of questions to determine agreement or disagreement. Each round will take approximately 20 minutes to complete, and responses will remain completely confidential. For both phases, the questions will either be 7-point Likert or multiple choices. For both phases, the group of questions will be sent up to three times until agreement (up to 80% of agreement consensus). Questions that have obtained agreement will be removed in each round. The questions will help the experts and the research team understand where there is current agreement on, or topic that may need to be discussed/studied further to unify trainings.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 68

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Alberto Uribe, MD; Phone Number: 6142933559; Email: alberto.uribe@osumc.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Jeremy Reeves; Phone Number: 6142933559; Email: jeremy.reeves@osumc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
      • Recruiting
      • The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
      • Contact: Alberto Uribe, MD; Phone Number: 6142933559; Email: alberto.uribe@osumc.edu
      • Contact: Jeremy Reeves, BA; Phone Number: 6148067569; Email: jeremy.reeves@osumc.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

A team of experts in the field of cardiothoracic critical care anesthesia.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• The participants will be experts in the field of Cardiothoracic Surgery Critical Care Medicine to better understand the training needs of the field. Experts must have been in practice for a minimum of 5 years and have at least 50% of practice in cardiothoracic intensive care units.
• The participants will have graduated from a critical care fellowship in either an administration, education, or research role.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants who do not meet the exclusion criteria will be excluded due to their lack of experience in the field.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

Delphi Panel; Experts in the field of cardiothoracic critical care with administrative, educational, and research roles.

Other: Delphi Questionnaire; Experts will be approached to participate in the research via email. If the experts agree to participate they will check 'yes' in the email with the informed consent and will be directed to the Qualtrics survey. If the expert decides to decline consent they will check 'no' in the email and will not be enrolled. Subjects who agree to participate will undergo 2 phases of questions with three rounds of the same questions in each phase. This Delphi survey research involves Phase 1 and Phase 2 of questioning, each phase involves up to 3 rounds of questions to determine agreement or disagreement. Each round will take approximately 20 minutes to complete, and your responses will remain completely confidential. For both phases, the questions will either be 7-point Likert or multiple choices. For both phases, the group of questions will be sent up to three times until we obtain agreement (up to 80% of agreement consensus). Questions that have obtained agreement will be removed in each round.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Degree of consensus on the curriculum for training cardiothoracic critical care by first evaluating the need for the field	The level of agreement for all statements achieving consensus from the expert panel; consensus is predefined as ≥ 80% of the panel rating.	12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Degree of consensus on defining training core competencies, goals, and milestones.	The level of agreement for all statements achieving consensus from the expert panel; consensus is predefined as ≥ 80% of the panel rating.	12 months
Degree of consensus on the definitions of "Scholarship", "Patient", "Safety", "Quality"	The level of agreement for all statements achieving consensus from the expert panel; consensus is predefined as ≥ 80% of the panel rating.	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ohio State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 11, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 12, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 12, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): April 17, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 3, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 30, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2024B0101

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No