## 7 Outcomes Measured  
Across various studies, the outcome measures generally included the number and type of scans performed, the diagnostic results from the scans, and the extent of effectiveness of utilizing POCUS on clinical diagnosis and management, as shown in Table 2. Specifically, some articles focused on implementing training protocols for clinicians at their respective hospitals [35; 36]. Upon deeper analysis, it was found that POCUS improves the accuracy and certainty of patient diagnoses in various clinical settings.  
To come to this conclusion, a comprehensive review was carried out on the applications and effectiveness of POCUS in the context of each study. Most of the reviewed studies focused on analyzing antenatal and fetal monitoring. [PERSON] et al. posit the efficacy of handheld ultrasound technology in screening pregnancy-related abnormalities related to placental implantation, fetal malpresentation, irregular amniotic fluid volume, and increased fetal numbers [36]. It was also discovered that obstetric ultrasound imaging can help pregnant women in LRS decrease intrapartum complications, screen for risk factors such as vaginal bleeding, pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, and other high-risk pregnancies, and improve antenatal care [23; 31; 42]. Furthermore, it was found that by utilizing POCUS as a low-cost diagnostic procedure, maternal mortality and neonatal mortality were reduced to 0% and 36%, respectively [35]. Additionally, through the development of a computer-assisted POCUS protocol for pregnant women aimed at creating a dataset suitable for machine learning, [PERSON] et al. improved visualization of the cervix from 28% to 91% and classification of placental location from 82% to 94% [23].  
Likewise, POCUS has made critical advancements in the diagnosis of many cardiac applications. [PERSON] et al. found that cardiac scans were the most commonly performed examinations (18% of total scans), while [PERSON] et al. found that the main applications of POCUS were ultrasound-guided central vein catheterization (49.4%) and beside echocardiographic assessment (33.9%) [52; 55]. Overall, POCUS offered increased benefits in comparison to traditional physical exams since clinicians had better estimations of central venous pressure and the inferior vena cava measurements [50].  
Although [PERSON] et al. found that obstetric and cardiac applications are the most documented, their study focused on lung ultrasound, which was another commonly performed examination [33]. [PERSON] et al. notes an agreement among physicians on utilizing POCUS lung ultrasound as a reasonable alternative for chest X-rays as the sensitivity and specificity of resident lung ultrasound was 100% and 96%, respectively, compared to 48% and 100% for clinician-interpreted chest X-rays [59]. Additionally, lung ultrasounds were significantly faster to obtain than chest X-rays. Another study by [PERSON] et al. found that POCUS examinations demonstrated much quicker response times, from request to performance, in contrast to the radiology department ultrasound. They noted that the average time to perform a POCUS examination was 6.0 min [33].  
When examining the gastrointestinal system, POCUS devices assisted in accurately confirming the diagnosis in over three-fourths of cases. Additionally, using POCUS devices allowed physicians to correct their previous diagnoses when there were various non-specific presenting symptoms [36]. POCUS proved useful when used in other applications such as (1) detecting lung abnormalities in patients with malaria and sepsis to identify patients at risk of death, (2) identifying the presence of abscesses in the liver, spleen, and prostate to help identify risk factors for melioidosis, and (3) revealing pathological findings that were suggestive of tuberculosis in 27 out of 100 patients tested [34].