Satisfaction level and correlation between performance and self-evaluation of physical therapy students in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) designed to assess clinical reasoning

Abstract

Introduction: The Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) is an instrument that allows evaluating clinical reasoning among physical therapy students, considering that knowing the correlation between their performance and their self-evaluation, as well as their level of satisfaction with this instrument, is essential. Objectives: To determine the correlation between performance and self-evaluation (perceived performance) of physical therapy students in an OSCE designed to assess clinical reasoning, and to evaluate their level of satisfaction with this instrument. Materials and methods: Analytical cross-sectional study conducted in 159 physical therapy students from a university in Chile who participated in an 11-station OSCE. Performance checklists and answer sheets were used for performance evaluation (passing score: 70% of the maximum score per station and in the OSCE). Two perception surveys were also used, one for self-evaluation of performance (for each station) and another to determine the students’ level of satisfaction with the OSCE. The correlation between performance in the OSCE (overall score, score by station, and score by type of station) and perceived performance was determined using the Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Results: The level of satisfaction with the OSCE was high in 57.23% of the students. The correlation between the total score in the OSCE and perceived performance was significant, but weak (Rho=0.31; p<0.001). In students with a low satisfaction level with the OSCE, the correlation between performance and perceived performance was not significant (Rho=0.15; p=0.23), while in those with high satisfaction level it was significant and moderate (Rho=0.48; p<0.001). Conclusions: Most students reported a high level of satisfaction with the OSCE. However, in most stations, the correlation between observed and perceived performance was weak and very weak.