For a study, pulmonologists were increasingly using rigid bronchoscopy to treat central airway diseases. However, no assessment method has been created to evaluate operator proficiency in performing this approach. The Rigid Bronchoscopic Tool for Assessment of Skills and Competence (RIGID-TASC) was developed to serve as an objective, competency-based assessment tool for basic rigid bronchoscopic skills such as rigid bronchoscopic intubation and central airway navigation. To see if RIGID-TASC scores accurately distinguish between novice, intermediate, and expert rigid bronchoscopy skills, and to see if RIGID-TASC has good interrater reliability when utilized by various independent testers. At two academic medical centers in the United States, 30 physician volunteers have been divided into three groups: 10 rigid bronchoscopy novices (those who had performed at least 50 flexible but no rigid bronchoscopies), 10 intermediate operators (those who had performed 5–20 rigid bronchoscopies), and 10 experts (those who had performed more than 100 rigid bronchoscopies). The participants were pulmonary and critical care fellows, interventional pulmonology fellows, and faculty interventional pulmonologists. After that, each participant used RIGID-TASC to execute rigid bronchoscopic intubation and navigation on a manikin while being scored separately by two testers.
The average scores for the three groups (novice, intermediate, and expert) were 58.10 (4.6 [SE]), 78.15 (3.8), and 94.40 (1.1). Between novice and intermediate operators (20.05, 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 7.77–32.33, P=0.001), and intermediate and expert operators (16.25, 95 % CI=3.97–28.53, P=0.008), there was a significant difference. The two testers’ interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient) was strong (r=0.95, 95 % CI=0.90–0.98).RIGID-TASC demonstrated concept validity and interrater reliability in this setting and group of participants. It was used to assess and classify operators in basic rigid bronchoscopic intubation and navigation from novice to expert reliably and objectively.
Reference:www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201509-593OC
