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Table 3 Psychometric quality of MCQs utilized in undergraduate medical qualification exam, DTU, 2021

From: Quality of multiple-choice questions in medical internship qualification examination determined by item response theory at Debre Tabor University, Ethiopia

Item characteristics

Four option (n = 73)

Five option (n = 47)

Total (N = 120)

p

Difficulty level, n(%)

Difficult

10 (13.7)

11 (23.4)

22(18.3)

0.705

Desirable

34 (46.6)

17 (36.2)

51(42.5)

Moderately easy

12 (16.4)

7 (14.9)

18(15.0)

Easy

17 (23.3)

12 (25.5)

29(24.2)

Item discrimination, n(%)

Negative

23 (32.9)

14 (29.8)

37(31.6)

0.567

Poor

34 (48.6)

20 (42.6)

54(46.2)

Acceptable

7 (10.0)

9 (19.2)

16(13.7)

Good

6 (8.6)

4 (8.5)

10(8.6)

Number of functioning distractors per item

High

18(24.7%)

1(2.1%)

19 (15.8%)

0.666

Moderate

31 (42.5%)

30(63.8%)

61 (50.8%)

Low

24 (32.9%)

16(34.0%)

40 (33.3%)

Difficulty, mean (95%CI)

0.59 (0.53,0.63)

0.57(0.49,0.65)

0.58(0.53,0.63)

0.543

Discrimination, mean (95%CI))

0.07(0.03,0.11)

0.09(0.04,0.14)

0.08(0.05,0.11)

0.739

Total # distractors

219

188

407

 

Total # FDs

129 (58.9)

87 (46.3)

216(53.1%)

 

FDs/item, mean (95%CI)

1.8(1.5, 2.0)

1.9(1.5, 2.2)

1.8(1.61,1.99)

0.829