Written Examination of Geriatric Medicine for Medical Students and Residents: Evaluation on Content Validity

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to construct content-valid item banks of geriatric medicine examination for medical students and residents to assist the development of the computerized geriatric examination system. Methods: In 2011-2013, totally 800 items used in the Taiwan Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (TAGG) board examinations from 2002 to 2009 were collected. Thirty experts were invited to assess the appropriateness of test items for medical students and residents, while content validity of the items was computed by Lawshe's Content Validity Ratio (CVR) approach. Results: 140 items (mean CVR value = 0.49; ranged from 0.33 to 0.87) for medical students and 359 items (mean CVR = 0.55; ranged from 0.33 to 0.93) for residents had reached the minimum CVR requirement of 0.33. According to Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the items for medical students reached the minimum CVR requirement indicated that 62.33% of the 140 items belonged to knowledge and comprehension, while the remaining 37.6% were items for application and general analysis abilities. The items for residents reached the minimum CVR requirement indicated that 48.15% of the 359 items belonged to knowledge and comprehension, while the remaining 51.8% were items for application and general analysis abilities. Furthermore, nearly half of the above items for residents were based on simulated clinical scenarios. Conclusions: This finding indicates that the item banks have content validity. And the item banks the authors developed can also be used in geriatric medicine education and the preparation for geriatric medicine certification examination in Taiwan.