TY - JOUR
T1 - Valid and Reliable Assessment of Upper Respiratory TractSpecimen Collection Skills during the COVID-19 Pandemic
AU - Todsen, Tobias
AU - Bohr, Anne
AU - Hovgaard, Lisette Hvid
AU - Eið, Rebekka Consuelo
AU - Benfield, Thomas
AU - Svendsen, Morten B. S.
AU - Kirkby, Nikolai
AU - Konge, Lars
AU - von Buchwald, Christian
AU - Melchiors, Jacob
AU - Tolsgaard, Martin
PY - 2021/10/26
Y1 - 2021/10/26
N2 - Proper specimen collection is the most important step to ensure accurate testing forthe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases. Assessment of healthcareworkers’ upper respiratory tract specimen collection skills is needed to ensure samples of high-qualityclinical specimens for COVID-19 testing. This study explored the validity evidence for a theoreticalMCQ-test and checklists developed for nasopharyngeal (NPS) and oropharyngeal (OPS) specimencollection skills assessment. We found good inter-item reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.76) for theitems of the MCQ-test and high inter-rater reliability using the checklist for the assessment of OPSand NPS skills on 0.86 and 0.87, respectively. The MCQ scores were significantly different betweenexperts (mean 98%) and novices (mean 66%),p< 0.001, and a pass/fail score of 91% was established.We found a significant discrimination between checklist scores of experts (mean 95% score for OPSand 89% for NPS) and novices (mean 50% score for OPS and 36% for NPS),p< 0.001, and a pass/failscore was established of 76% for OPS and 61% for NPS. Further, the results also demonstratedthat a group of non-healthcare educated workers can perform upper respiratory tract specimencollection comparably to experts after a short and focused simulation-based training session. Thisstudy, therefore, provides validity evidence for the use of a theoretical and practical test for upperrespiratory specimens’ collection skills that can be used for competency-based training of the workersin the COVID-19 test centers
AB - Proper specimen collection is the most important step to ensure accurate testing forthe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases. Assessment of healthcareworkers’ upper respiratory tract specimen collection skills is needed to ensure samples of high-qualityclinical specimens for COVID-19 testing. This study explored the validity evidence for a theoreticalMCQ-test and checklists developed for nasopharyngeal (NPS) and oropharyngeal (OPS) specimencollection skills assessment. We found good inter-item reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.76) for theitems of the MCQ-test and high inter-rater reliability using the checklist for the assessment of OPSand NPS skills on 0.86 and 0.87, respectively. The MCQ scores were significantly different betweenexperts (mean 98%) and novices (mean 66%),p< 0.001, and a pass/fail score of 91% was established.We found a significant discrimination between checklist scores of experts (mean 95% score for OPSand 89% for NPS) and novices (mean 50% score for OPS and 36% for NPS),p< 0.001, and a pass/failscore was established of 76% for OPS and 61% for NPS. Further, the results also demonstratedthat a group of non-healthcare educated workers can perform upper respiratory tract specimencollection comparably to experts after a short and focused simulation-based training session. Thisstudy, therefore, provides validity evidence for the use of a theoretical and practical test for upperrespiratory specimens’ collection skills that can be used for competency-based training of the workersin the COVID-19 test centers
KW - COVID-19 testing
KW - SARS-CoV-2 sample
KW - upper respiratory tract specimens
KW - skills assessment
KW - validation
M3 - Article
SN - 2075-4418
VL - 11
JO - Diagnostics
JF - Diagnostics
IS - 11
ER -
