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Table 2 Metric characteristics of the instrument questions in overall sample (N = 203)

From: Cognitive levels in testing knowledge in evidence-based medicine: a cross sectional study

Test question according to cognitive level and EBM topic

Discrimination coefficienta

Discrimination coefficient by learning domainb

Discrimination coefficient by EBM topicc

Proportion of correct answers on overall sample

Proportion of incorrect answers on overall sample

Minimal passing rate (MPR)

Remembering

 Evidence-based practice

0.14

0.26

0.22

0.88

0.12

1.00

 Internal validity

0.38

0.42

0.52

0.82

0.18

1.00

 Clinical importance

0.4

0.54

0.50

0.79

0.21

1.00

 Study design

0.4

0.64

0.56

0.70

0.30

0.25

 Sources of evidence

0.26

0.38

0.26

0.26

0.74

0.33

 Diagnostic studies

0.3

0.64

0.60

0.42

0.58

1.00

 Median (95% CI)d

0.34 (0.16 to 0.40)

0.48 (0.28 to 0.64)

0.51 (0.23 to 0.59)

0.75 (0.29 to 0.86)

0.26 (0.13 to 0.71)

1.0 (0.27 to 1.0)

Understanding

 Evidence-based practice

0.1

0.60

0.34

0.28

0.72

0.33

 Internal validity

0.14

0.42

0.40

0.83

0.17

0.33

 Clinical importance

0.12

0.16

0.18

0.07

0.93

0.25

 Study design

0.2

0.58

0.46

0.68

0.32

0.25

 Sources of evidence

0.34

0.5

0.34

0.65

0.35

0.33

 Diagnostic studies

0.18

0.54

0.50

0.20

0.80

0.25

 Median (95% CI)d

0.16 (0.11 to 0.31)

0.52 (0.21 to 0.60)

0.37 (0.21 to 0.49)

0.47 (0.10 to 0.80)

0.53 (0.20 to 0.91)

0.29 (0.25 to 0.33)

Applying

 Evidence-based practice

0.48

0.62

0.86

0.54

0.46

0.25

 Internal validity

0.24

0.48

0.50

0.36

0.64

0.25

 Clinical importance

0.18

0.6

0.72

0.46

0.54

1.00

 Study design

0.46

0.68

0.52

0.60

0.40

1.00

 Sources of evidence

0.2

0.42

0.20

0.36

0.64

0.20

 Diagnostic studies

0.22

0.24

0.38

0.13

0.87

0.20

 Median (95% CI)d

0.23 (0.18 to 0.48)

0.54 (0.28 to 0.67)

0.51 (0.24 to 0.83)

0.41 (0.18 to 0.59)

0.59 (0.41 to 0.83)

0.25 (0.20 to 1.0)

Analysing

 Evidence-based practice

0.16

0.28

0.40

0.19

0.81

0.20

 Internal validity

0.54

0.66

0.60

0.63

0.37

1.00

 Clinical importance

0.16

0.58

0.74

0.53

0.47

0.20

 Study design

0.3

0.58

0.54

0.44

0.56

0.20

 Sources of evidence

0.06

0.06

0.06

0.98

0.02

0.50

 Diagnostic studies

0.22

0.36

0.44

0.19

0.81

0.20

 Median (95% CI)d

0.19 (0.08 to 0.49)

0.47 (0.10 to 0.64)

0.49 (0.13 to 0.71)

0.49 (0.19 to 0.91)

0.52 (0.09 to 0.81)

0.20 (0.20 to 0.90)

Evaluating

 Evidence-based practice

0.2

0.6

0.70

0.31

0.69

0.25

 Internal validity

0.2

0.38

0.58

0.37

0.63

0.33

 Clinical importance

0.26

0.34

0.36

0.14

0.86

0.33

 Study design

0.22

0.6

0.62

0.56

0.44

1.00

 Sources of evidence

0.06

0.08

0.06

0.05

0.95

0.33

 Diagnostic studies

0.42

0.72

0.68

0.47

0.53

0.20

 Median (95% CI)d

0.21 (0.09 to 0.39)

0.49 (0.13 to 0.70)

0.60 (0.12 to 0.70)

0.34 (0.07 to 0.54)

0.66 (0.46 to 0.93)

0.33 (0.21 to 0.87)

Creatinge

 Item 1

−0.06

0.28

 

0.51

0.49

0.33

 Item 2

−0.02

0.38

 

0.26

0.74

0.20

 Item 3

0.06

0.62

 

0.39

0.61

0.33

 Item 4

0.1

0.44

 

0.26

0.74

0.20

 Item 5

0.08

0.54

 

0.52

0.48

0.33

 Item 6

0.1

0.64

 

0.41

0.59

0.20

 Median (95% CI)d

0.07 (−0.05 to 0.10)

0.49 (0.30 to 0.64)

 

0.40 (0.26 to 0.52)

0.60 (0.48 to 0.74)

0.27 (0.20 to 0.33)

 Total median (95% CI)d

0.20 (0.15 to 0.25)

0.52 (0.41 to 0.59)

0.50 (0.38 to 0.56)

0.43 (0.34 to 0.53)

0.57 (0.47 to 0.66)

0.33 (0.25 to 0.33)

  1. EBM Evidence-based medicine, CI Confidence interval
  2. aDiscrimination index ranges from −1 to + 1, and the higher number indicates better discrimination of better and worse performing participants. Discrimination indexes were always calculated based on the comparison of the highest performing 25% and lowest performing 25% participants. Calculated on total sum of all answers (theoretical range 0–36)
  3. bCalculated based on the sum of correct answers on questions on corresponding learning domain (theoretical range 0–6)
  4. cCalculated based on the sum of correct answers on questions on corresponding EBM topic (theoretical range 0–5)
  5. dMedians and corresponding 95% CI were calculated for each domain separately and for overall test scores
  6. eFor the Creating cognitive domain, the questions involved more than one EBM topics. Therefore, questions for the Creating domain were arbitrarily labelled based on their sequence in the test
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BMC Medical Education

ISSN: 1472-6920

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