Can we use a test of spatial relationships to identify future doctors who might benefit from increased training to better perform ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia?

• Register: ANZCTR
• Last refreshed on: 12 July 2021
• Main ID: ACTRN12617000861358
• Date of registration: 13/06/2017
• Prospective Registration: Yes
• Primary sponsor: Liverpool Hospital
• Public title: Can we use a test of spatial relationships to identify future doctors who might benefit from increased training to better perform ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia?
• Scientific title: Does Targeted Educational Intervention based on Psychometric Screening Improve Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anaesthesia Performance in medical students?
• Date of first enrolment: 01/01/2018
• Target sample size: 140
• Recruitment status: Completed
• URL: https://anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12617000861358.aspx
• Study type: Interventional
• Study design: Purpose: Educational / counselling / training; Allocation: Randomised controlled trial; Masking: Blinded (masking used);Assignment: Parallel;Type of endpoint: Efficacy;
• Phase: Not Applicable

Countries of recruitment

Australia, Canada, Ireland

Contacts

• Name: Dr Alwin Chuan

• Name: Dr Alwin Chuan

Key inclusion & exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: medical students
Exclusion criteria: Participants with any previous training, tutorials, workshops or actual performance of UGRA.
Participants with prior psychometric or neurocognitive testing in the past 12 months.

Age minimum: 18 Years
Age maximum: No limit
Gender: Both males and females

Health Condition(s) or Problem(s) studied

medical students with low spatial relationships as screened using the Mental Rotations Test-A;
medical students with low spatial relationships as screened using the Mental Rotations Test-A

Public Health - Health service research

Intervention(s)

In this prospective, multicentre, 1:1 allocation, double blinded, stratified randomised interventional (non-drug) trial, we will perform screening of innate spatial relationships on medical students ("participants") recruited into the study. This is performed using the revised Mental Rotations Test-A (MRTA). This paper and pen based form is validated and standardised for visuopatial skills testing. The test is timed, has explicit instructions to be read out verbatim to participants, and the entire test takes 15 minutes.

Using population norms, participants are stratified into low (below mean) and high (above mean) ability groups. Participants are then randomised into control (discovery learning) or intervention (deliberate practice) training, creating 4 groups: low-control, low-intervention, high-control, and high-intervention.

Each participant will then be brought individually to an identical in vitro benchtop pork model and be asked to perform an ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia (UGRA) needle task. The attempt will be recorded as time taken (seconds), and evaluated using a global rating scale previously used for UGRA assessment. This is the baseline test.
Physician anaesthetists who are experts in UGRA will conduct these assessments. This will be assessed in real-time, while the participant performs the task. These “examiners” are blinded to participant MRTA scores and group allocation. The examiners are not involved in any other training of participants.

After performance of baseline testing, the intervention group receives deliberate practice in UGRA skills. Deliberate practice is a technique of 1 on 1 teaching by expert faculty using graded goals and providing feedback after every attempt. This training period lasts 20 minutes.

Primary Outcome(s)

Time taken to complete the UGRA task, recorded on a stopwatch by a research assistant from picking up the needle and injecting saline into the 6- and 12-o'clock positions of the in vitro nerve benchtop model [immediately after MRTA screening (baseline test), and after exposure to educational control or intervention (final)]

Secondary Outcome(s)

proficiency score on a global rating scale[at baseline, and at final tests]

Secondary ID(s)

None

Source(s) of Monetary Support

Liverpool Hospital Department of Anaesthesia

Ethics review

Status: Approved
Approval date: 01/08/2018
Contact:

South Western Sydney HREC

Results

• Results available: Yes
• Date Posted: 08/07/2021
• Date Completed: 26/05/2019