N K Francis1, G B Hanna, A Cuschieri. 1. Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Surgical Skills Unit, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Dundee Endoscopic Psychomotor Tester (DEPT) was developed as a means of obtaining an objective assessment of endoscopic performance using a single hand. This paper evaluates the reliability of the system. METHODS: Twenty medical students were tested on the DEPT for four runs using the dominant hand. Test-retest reproducibility and coefficient alpha to measure the internal consistency were used as indexes of the reliability of the DEPT system. RESULTS: A positive correlation was found between different runs in all outcome measures of the DEPT. Coefficient a was > 0.7 for all parameters. CONCLUSION: DEPT provides a reliable method for the objective assessment of single-handed endoscopic performance in terms of aiming and force exerted on the target plate.
BACKGROUND: The Dundee Endoscopic Psychomotor Tester (DEPT) was developed as a means of obtaining an objective assessment of endoscopic performance using a single hand. This paper evaluates the reliability of the system. METHODS: Twenty medical students were tested on the DEPT for four runs using the dominant hand. Test-retest reproducibility and coefficient alpha to measure the internal consistency were used as indexes of the reliability of the DEPT system. RESULTS: A positive correlation was found between different runs in all outcome measures of the DEPT. Coefficient a was > 0.7 for all parameters. CONCLUSION: DEPT provides a reliable method for the objective assessment of single-handed endoscopic performance in terms of aiming and force exerted on the target plate.