The Proportion of 6th year Medical Students Khon Kaen University in knowledge of Electrocardiogram Interpretation

Abstract

Background and Objective :The ability to accurately interpret electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities is a core competency to diagnose and proper management. Therefore, the study about the proportion of 6^th  year Medical Students in knowledge of electrocardiogram interpretation might be benefit for improving      adequate performance in their future career and evaluate the training course for medical students whether it is adequate or not.  This study aimed to determine 1) The proportion of 6^th year medical students Khon Kaen University in knowledge of electrocardiogram interpretation 2) level of confidence to interpret electrocardiogram and 3) Source of further knowledge about electrocardiogram interpretation.  

Method:  Descriptive study at Srinagarind hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University. Study population:  6^th year medical students Srinagarind hospital 132 people. Tools: Self-administered questionnaire. Analysis: SPSS v.19 and Epi Info v. 3.5.4 calculating proportion, percentage, mean, median, interquartile range and   95% confidence interval

Results: The response rate was 80.1%. The proportion of 6^th year Medical Students Khon Kaen University in knowledge of electrocardiogram was 39.3% (95% CI: 30.1%, 49.2%) pass. The proportion of corrected basic knowledge of electrocardiogram was 48.6% (95%CI: 38.9%, 58.1%). And the proportion of corrected diagnosis was 66.4%. The confidence in electrocardiogram interpretation among 6^th year medical students was 3.1, revealed that they had moderate confidence. The resource of knowledge in electrocardiogram that do most often was attending electrocardiogram class (86%).The second and third resource knowledge were internal medicine residents (82.2%) and internal medicine staffs(80.4%) respectively.

Conclusion: Two-fifths of 6^th year medical students were able to correctly interpret electrocardiogram.    The level of confidence is in medium level. And the learning resource was from the classroom.