Self-reported skills and self-confdence in point-of-care ultrasound: a cross-sectional nationwide survey amongst Finnish emergency physicians

Self-reported skills and self-confdence in point-of-care ultrasound: a cross-sectional nationwide survey amongst Finnish emergency physicians

POCUS, Ultrasound, Post-graduate medical education, Continuous medical education, Skills training, Selfconfdence

Background The use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasing. Numerous investigators have evaluated
the learning curves in POCUS, but there are no published studies on how emergency physicians perceive their own
competence level with this skill.
Methods A nationwide survey amongst Finnish emergency physicians was conducted. The respondents reported
their use of POCUS and how it has afected their clinical decision-making. The number of POCUS examinations performed was compared to the self-assessed skill level with diferent applications. Cut-of values were determined for
the number of examinations required to acquire a good self-assessed skill level in each POCUS application. The correlation between self-confdence and the self-estimated skill level was analyzed. Several diferent statistical methods
were used, such as Student’s t-test, Pearson’s correlation test, Loess method and ROC curve analysis.
Results A total of 134 out of 253 Finnish emergency medicine specialists and residents (52%) responded to the
survey. The most commonly used POCUS applications were POCUS-assisted procedures, pleural efusion and pneumothorax, inferior vena cava and lower extremity deep venous thrombosis. The initial rate of perceived skill acquisition was very steep with the curve fattening with greater skill and more experience. The number of examinations
performed to reach a self-assessed good competence varied from seven to 75 with diferent applications. The lowest
cut-of point for self-assessed good competence was obtained for rapid ultrasound for the shock and hypotensionprotocol and the highest for focused cardiac examinations. There was an excellent correlation between self-confdence and the self-assessed skill level.
Conclusions The Finnish emergency practitioners’ self-assessed development of POCUS skills parallels the previously
published learning curves of POCUS. The correlation of self-confdence and the self-assessed skill level was found to
be excellent. These fndings add information on the development of perceived POCUS skills amongst emergency
physicians and could complement a formal performance assessment.

Ossi Hannula , Ville Hällberg, Anna Meuronen, Olli Suominen, Suvi Rautiainen, Ari Palomäki, Harri Hyppölä, Ritva Vanninen and Kalle Mattila

BMC Emergency Medicine

(2023) 23:23

Fajar bagus W

PDF

English

Text