Feasibility of a standardized ultrasound examination in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a quality improvement among rheumatologists cohort

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Henning Bliddal⁸  Bente Danneskiold-Samsoe⁸  Marcin Kowalski^1,11  Stavros Chrysidis^1,13  Per Bülow⁵  Henrik Røgind³  Lars Juul⁷  Hanne Lindegaard¹  Dorthe V Jensen⁴  Tove Lorenzen^1,12  Annette Hansen⁹  Michael Stoltenberg^1,10  Robin Christensen⁶  Søren Torp-Pedersen²  Karen Ellegaard² 

[1] Department of Internal Medicine C, Section of Rheumatology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark;The Parker Institute, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark;Department of Rheumatology H, Frederiksberg Hospital, Frederiksberg, Denmark;Rheumatologic Clinic, Hørsholm Hospital, Hørsholm, Denmark;Department of Rheumatology H, Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark;Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark;Department of Rheumatology, Copenhagen State University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark;Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark;Department of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology C, Gentofte University Hospital, Gentofte, Denmark;Department of Rheumatology, Køge Hospital, Koge, Denmark;Department of Rheumatology, Aalborg Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark;Department of Rheumatology, Vejle Hospital, Vejle, Denmark;Department of Rheumatology, Esbjerg Hospital, Esbjerg, Denmark

关键词: Wrist;    Rheumatoid Arthritis;    Ultrasonography;   

Others  :  1150415
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2474-13-35

 received in 2011-08-16, accepted in 2012-03-12,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Quality improvement is important to facilitate valid patient outcomes. Standardized examination procedures may improve the validity of US.

The aim of this study was to investigate the learning progress for rheumatologists during training of US examination of the hand in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

Rheumatologists with varying degrees of experience in US were instructed by skilled tutors. The program consisted of two days with hands-on training followed by personal US examinations performed in their individual clinics. Examinations were sent to the tutors for quality control. The US examinations were evaluated according to a scoring sheet containing 144 items. An acceptable examination was defined as > 80% correct scores.

Results

Thirteen rheumatologists participated in the study. They included a total of 104 patients with RA. Only few of the initial examinations were scored below 80%, and as experience increased, the scores improved (p = 0.0004). A few participants displayed decreasing scores.

The mean time spent performing the standardized examination procedure decreased from 34 min to less than 10 minutes (p = 0.0001).

Conclusion

With systematic hands-on training, a rheumatologist can achieve a high level of proficiency in the conduction of US examinations of the joints of the hand in patients with RA. With experience, examination time decreases, while the level of correctness is maintained. The results indicate that US may be applied as a valid measurement tool suitable for clinical practice and in both single- and multi-centre trials.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Ellegaard et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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