Evaluation of critical thinking application in medical ultrasound practice among sonographers in south-eastern Nigeria

Purpose: To investigate the application of critical thinking (CT) in medical ultrasound by sonographers in south-eastern Nigeria as a measure of the quality of practice. Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire based on six elements of CT was distributed to 82 sonographers selected through a simple random sampling. The questionnaire investigated the application of the elements of interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation and self-regulation involved in CT by medical sonographers. The data for each respondent were categorized into age, experience and the elements of CT. Statistical analyses were done using mean and Spearman's Rank correlation. Results: The overall mean score of the practitioners on all the elements of CT application was 8.65 +/- 6.76 against a total of 60. The application of CT did not show any correlation with age or clinical experience using Spearman's Rank correlation (r = -0.017; p > 0.05 and r = -0.086; p > 0.05, respectively). Conclusions: The results show that there is poor application of CT by medical sonographers in the locality which may impact negatively on the outcome of this diagnostic process. Increase in the number of formal training programmes in sonography and inclusion of CT skills in the curriculum are recommended. (C) 2007 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.