Ultrasound interpretation of hydronephrosis is improved by a brief educational intervention.
Publication/Presentation Date
3-1-2000
Abstract
Nineteen emergency medicine (EM) physicians (14 residents and 3 attendings) from an EM residency program which teaches ultrasound as part of the curriculum, were asked to rate 40 ultrasound scans showing different degrees of kidney hydronephrosis, first solely on the basis of their prior knowledge and experience. One week later, after a brief 15 minute lecture on a new objective method to read degrees of hydronephrosis, the same EM physicians were again asked to rate the 40 ultrasounds. One month later, to assess retention of the method, the same physicians were asked to read the same scans using the objective method presented 1 month prior. The three readings were compared with each other, and then each with a gold standard established for the study. Agreement of the group regarding scan interpretation improved and was maintained after the educational intervention (multirater kappa + .19, .32, and .32 for the three tests administered). When the differences between each week's readings and the gold standard were assessed, differences decreased with each successive test, and were statistically significant with the third test (P = .029). We conclude that our brief educational intervention improves agreement among physicians in readings of ultrasound scans and also significantly increases accuracy in readings when compared with a gold standard.
Volume
18
Issue
2
First Page
186
Last Page
188
ISSN
0735-6757
Published In/Presented At
Morse, J. W., Saracino, B. S., Melanson, S. W., Arcona, S., & Heller, M. B. (2000). Ultrasound interpretation of hydronephrosis is improved by a brief educational intervention. The American journal of emergency medicine, 18(2), 186–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0735-6757(00)90016-0
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
10750928
Department(s)
Department of Emergency Medicine
Document Type
Article