PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine the recording accuracy of faculty observers and standardized patients (SPs) on a clinical performance examination (CPX). METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of a fourth-year medical students' CPX that was held at a medical school in Seoul, Korea. The CPX consisted of 4 cases and was administered to 118 examinees, with the participation of 52 SP and 45 faculty observers. For the study we chose 15 examinees per case, and analyzed 60 student-SP encounters in total. To determine the recording accuracy level, 2 SP trainers developed an answer key for each encounter. First, we computed agreement rates (P) and kappa coefficient (K) values between the answer key-SPs and the answer key-faculty observers. Secondly, we analyzed variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures to determine whether the mean percentage of the correct checklist score differed as a function of the rater, the case, or the interaction between both factors. RESULTS: Mean P rates ranged from 0.72 to 0.86, while mean K values varied from 0.39 to 0.59. The SP checklist accuracy was higher than that of faculty observersat the level of item comparison. Results from ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between the percentage of correct scores by the answer key, faculty observers and SPs. There was no significant interaction between rater and case factors. CONCLUSION: Acceptable levels of recording accuracy were obtained in both rater groups. SP raters can replace faculty raters in a large-scale CPX with thorough preparation.
Checklist ; Clinical Competence ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Education, Medical, Undergraduate ; Educational Measurement ; Humans ; Korea ; Observer Variation ; Schools, Medical

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to present the distribution of lesions among the six categories of the pathology reporting system for thyroid core-needle biopsy (CNB), along with the range of malignancy risk of each category based on different diagnostic criteria for benignity in a clinical cohort. Methods: For 1,216 consecutive nodules (≥1 cm) of 1,125 patients who underwent CNB at two hospitals, the diagnostic results based on the six categories of thyroid CNB were analyzed. Patients were divided into three groups according to prior fine-needle aspiration (FNA) status: second-line CNB for nodules where prior FNA yielded nondiagnostic or unsatisfactory results (n=57), second-line CNB for nodules with prior FNA results of atypia/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) (n=303), and first-line CNB (n=856). Results: The proportion of nodules in each CNB category and the range of the malignancy rate for each category was as follows, in order from category I to VI: 1.8%, 23.1%-75.0%; 57.9%, 0.7%-16.7%; 16.0%, 13.2%-46.7%; 8.8%, 53.8%-56.8%; 2.0%, 100%; and 13.5%, 100%. First-line CNB was associated with a higher rate of conclusive diagnoses (category II, IV, or VI) (725 of 856, 84.7%) than second-line CNB with prior nondiagnostic or AUS/FLUS FNA results (241 of 360, 66.9%; P<0.001). Conclusion The overall distribution of nodules across the six categories of thyroid CNB and the ranges of malignancy risk for those categories were presented in a clinical cohort. First-line CNB tended to produce a higher rate of conclusive results than second-line CNB with prior inconclusive FNA results.

Purpose: This study evaluated thyroid cancer risk in a lung cancer screening population according to the presence of an incidental thyroid nodule (ITN) detected on low-dose chest computed tomography (LDCT). Methods: Of 47,837 subjects who underwent LDCT, a lung cancer screening population according to the National Lung Screening Trial results was retrospectively enrolled. The prevalence of ITN on LDCT was calculated, and the ultrasonography (US)/fine-needle aspiration (FNA)–based risk of thyroid cancer according to the presence of ITN on LDCT was compared using the Fisher exact or Student t-test as appropriate. Results: Of the 2,329 subjects (female:male=44:2,285; mean age, 60.9±4.9 years), the prevalence of ITN on LDCT was 4.8% (111/2,329). The incidence of thyroid cancer was 0.8% (18/2,329, papillary thyroid microcarcinomas [PTMCs]) and was higher in the ITN-positive group than in the ITN-negative group (3.6% [4/111] vs. 0.6% [14/2,218], P=0.009). Among the 2,011 subjects who underwent both LDCT and thyroid US, all risks were higher (P<0.001) in the ITNpositive group than in the ITN-negative group: presence of thyroid nodule on US, 94.1% (95/101) vs. 48.6% (928/1,910); recommendation of FNA according to the American Thyroid Association guideline and Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System guideline, 41.2% (42/101) vs. 2.4% (46/1,910) and 39.6% (40/101) vs. 1.9% (37/1,910), respectively. Conclusion Despite a higher risk of thyroid cancer in the LDCT ITN-positive group than in the ITN-negative group in a lung cancer screening population, all cancers were PTMCs. A heavy smoking history may not necessitate thorough screening US for thyroid incidentalomas.