The Script Concordance Test in anesthesiology: Validation of a new tool for assessing clinical reasoning

Objective: To evaluate whether the Script Concordance Test (SCT) can discriminate between levels of experience among anesthesiology residents and attending physicians. Study type: Multicenter (Toulouse, Nantes, Bordeaux and Limoges), prospective, observational study. Patients and methods: A SCT made of 60 items was used to evaluate "junior residents" (n = 60), "senior residents" (n = 47) and expert anesthesiologists (n = 10). Results: There were no missing data in our study. Mean scores (+/- SD) were 69.9 (+/- 6.1), 73.1 (+/- 6.5) and 82.0 (+/- 3.5) out of a potential score of 100 for "junior residents", "senior residents" and expert anesthesiologists, respectively. Results were statistically different between the 3 groups (P = 0.001) using the Kruskall-Wallis test. The Cronbach's alpha score was 0.63. Conclusions: The SCT is a valid and useful tool for discriminating between anesthesia providers with varying levels of experience in anesthesiology. It may be a useful tool for documenting the progression of reasoning during anesthesia residency. (C) 2015 Societe franc, aise d'anesthesie et de reanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.