Noting that assessment criteria for O&P student performance in clinical tasks have not been established, researchers set out to establish measures for the patellar-tendon-bearing (PTB) impression process for use in educational settings. They concluded that assessment relies primarily on instructor expertise.
Survey items were based on interviews with prosthetic instructors and focus groups with prosthetic students. Fourteen expert prosthetics educators then completed multiple-round internet-based Delphi surveys, which asked experts to indicate their level of agreement on various assessment methods and criteria in PTB education. Consensus for survey items was reviewed after each survey round and used to determine the content of and need for subsequent rounds.
Items were categorized into educational materials/strategies, impression stages/materials, measurement tools, measurements taken, assessment during impression, assessment after impression, feedback, student self-assessment, and grading.
In two survey rounds, 40 items guiding assessment methods and criteria for PTB impressions achieved 80 percent consensus. Lower levels of consensus were reached on specific objective criteria, such as use of measurement thresholds when evaluating student impressions.
The study, “Determining educational assessment criteria for patellar-tendon-bearing impressions for transtibial prosthetic sockets: a Delphi study” was published in Prosthetics and Orthotics International.
