Competency-based Assessment of Ultrasound-guided Joint Injection Skills

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Ultrasound-guided joint injections and aspirations are frequently used in the treatment of rheumatological diseases. Studies have shown that intra-articular glucocorticoid injections (IAGCs) in the early treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is essential and leads to improved disease control and earlier achievement of remission. Unfortunately, many rheumatologists feel insecure performing IAGC due to poor and unstructured training opportunities, which can result in suboptimal treatment and potentially poorer patient outcome. Nowadays, the gold standard training method has shifted towards competency-based education were objective assessment tools are necessary. A previous study has developed a scale for assessment of invasive ultrasound procedures, the Interventional Ultrasound Skills Evaluation (IUSE) tool. Although expert consensus supports evidence of content validity of the assessment tool, it is not known if the tool can discriminate differences in performance scores between the different levels of experience.

Official Title
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Competency-based Assessment of Ultrasound-guided Joint Injection Skills: A Validity Study

Conditions
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Musculoskeletal Diseases

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Ultrasound guided joint injection


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Physicians attending the yearly international conference EULAR (Denmark 2022) Novices: No or little experience with ultrasound guided joint injections. Intermediates: Participated and completed at least one formal musculoskeletal ultrasound course and performed more than 100 ultrasound guided joint injections. Experts: Physicians with a long experience with musculoskeletal ultrasound and ultrasound guided joint injections doing the procedure almost daily and providing teaching and/or research within this field. Exclusion Criteria: No informed consent Novices/Intermediates: extensive experience with musculoskeletal ultrasound and/or ultrasound guided joint injections.
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Novices<br>Measurement of competence | Other: Ultrasound guided joint injection<br>* The participants will perform two ultrasound guided joint injections on a mannequin. The performance of both procedures are videorecorded. All videos will be rated by two blinded raters using the modified IUSE assessment tool.<br>|
| Experimental: Intermediates<br>Measurement of competence | Other: Ultrasound guided joint injection<br>* The participants will perform two ultrasound guided joint injections on a mannequin. The performance of both procedures are videorecorded. All videos will be rated by two blinded raters using the modified IUSE assessment tool.<br>|
| Experimental: Experts<br>Measurement of competence | Other: Ultrasound guided joint injection<br>* The participants will perform two ultrasound guided joint injections on a mannequin. The performance of both procedures are videorecorded. All videos will be rated by two blinded raters using the modified IUSE assessment tool.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Performance score | Performance score assessed by blinded raters using the modified IUSE assessment tool | Up to 12 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Training, Ultrasound, Medical education