title: The Predictive Validity of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners' COMLEX-USA Examinations With Regard to Outcomes on American Board of Family Medicine Examinations.
abstract: To examine the predictive validity of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners' Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States of America (COMLEX-USA) series with regard to the American Board of Family Medicine's (ABFM's) In-Training Examination (ITE) and Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) Examination.
  
  
  
  A repeated-measures design was employed, using test scores across seven levels of training for 1,023 DOs who took the MC-FP for the first time between April 2012 and November 2014 and for whom the ABFM had ITE scores for each of their residency years. Pearson and disattenuated correlations were calculated; Fisher r to z transformation was performed; and sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for the COMLEX-USA Level 2-Cognitive Evaluation (CE) with regard to the MC-FP were computed.
  
  
  
  The Pearson and disattenuated correlations ranged from 0.55 to 0.69 and from 0.61 to 0.80, respectively. For MC-FP scores, only the correlation increase from the COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE to Level 3 was statistically significant (for Pearson correlations: z = 2.41, P = .008; for disattenuated correlations: z = 3.16, P < .001). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the COMLEX-USA Level 2-CE with the MC-FP were 0.90, 0.39, 0.96, and 0.19, respectively.
  
  
  
  Evidence was found that the COMLEX-USA can assist family medicine residency program directors in predicting later resident performance on the ABFM's ITE and MC-FP, which is becoming increasingly important as graduate medical education accreditation moves toward a single aligned model.
authors.affiliation: T.R. O'Neill is vice president of psychometric services, American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky. M.R. Peabody is a psychometrician, American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky. H. Song is senior director for psychometrics and research, National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Peabody
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D002568:Certification / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards; D008007:Licensure, Medical / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010021:Osteopathic Medicine / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D013044:Specialty Boards / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States