Obstetric ultrasound by family physicians. Adequacy as assessed by pregnancy outcome

Quality assessment is an important component of family medicine research. Actual obstetric outcomes of patients studied by family physician sonographers have not been reported but are relevant to quality assessment. A review of 498 obstetric ultrasound examinations performed by four family physician sonographers at the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of Michigan assessed these physicians' competence by outcome evaluations. The findings are that these physicians accurately predicted the estimated date of confinement, the presence or absence of fetal death, and multiple gestation. They infrequently assessed the fetal sex and were occasionally incorrect when they did so. More study is needed of their competence in the diagnosis of placenta previa, ectopic pregnancy, and fetal anomalies.