title: Psychometric properties of a novel knowledge assessment tool of mechanical ventilation for emergency medicine residents in the northeastern United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prior descriptions of the psychometric properties of validated knowledge assessment tools designed to determine Emergency medicine (EM) residents understanding of physiologic and clinical concepts related to mechanical ventilation are lacking. In this setting, we have performed this study to describe the psychometric and performance properties of a novel knowledge assessment tool that measures EM residents' knowledge of topics in mechanical ventilation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Results from a multicenter, prospective, survey study involving 219 EM residents from 8 academic hospitals in northeastern United States were analyzed to quantify reliability, item difficulty, and item discrimination of each of the 9 questions included in the knowledge assessment tool for 3 weeks, beginning in January 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate for residents completing the knowledge assessment tool was 68.6% (214 out of 312 EM residents). Reliability was assessed by both Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.6293) and the Spearman-Brown coefficient (0.6437). Item difficulty ranged from 0.39 to 0.96, with a mean item difficulty of 0.75 for all 9 questions. Uncorrected item discrimination values ranged from 0.111 to 0.556. Corrected item-total correlations were determined by removing the question being assessed from analysis, resulting in a range of item discrimination from 0.139 to 0.498.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reliability, item difficulty and item discrimination were within satisfactory ranges in this study, demonstrating acceptable psychometric properties of this knowledge assessment tool. This assessment indicates that this knowledge assessment tool is sufficiently rigorous for use in future research studies or for assessment of EM residents for evaluative purposes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy B
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8922-1955
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine and Department of Emergency Medicine, Maine Medical Center; Portland, ME, USA.
authors.forename: Tania D
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9053-1523
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Strout
authors.affiliation: Oakland and Richmond Medical Centers; Oakland, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4035-6848
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Seigel
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA ; Division of Emergency Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina; Charleston, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Susan R
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7477-7531
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Wilcox
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D009511:New England; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Emergency medicine; Prospective studies; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of results; United States