Development and content validation of performance assessments for endoscopic third ventriculostomy

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Medical Education
• Surgical Assessment

Background:

• Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is a crucial neurosurgical procedure.
• Standardized assessment tools are needed to evaluate ETV proficiency.
• Current assessment methods for ETV may lack comprehensive content validity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and establish content validity for expert rating instruments for ETV performance.
• To create the Neuro-Endoscopic Ventriculostomy Assessment Tool (NEVAT).
• To provide reliable tools for assessing ETV skills in neurosurgical trainees.

Main Methods:

• Literature review, video analysis, and expert neurosurgeon discussions identified key ETV aspects.
• Development of a procedure checklist (CL), an error CL, and a global rating scale (GRS).
• Modified Delphi survey with international ETV experts to rate instrument items on a 5-point Likert scale.

Main Results:

• Seventeen experts participated in three Delphi rounds.
• Consensus was reached on 42 procedural CL items, 30 error CL items, and 10 GRS items.
• Final instruments cover setup, exposure, navigation, ventriculostomy, and closure aspects of ETV.

Conclusions:

• Content validity of three ETV assessment measures (NEVAT) was established via expert consensus.
• These measures offer unique assessment information for individual or combined use.
• Further validation in simulated and operative settings is required for construct validity and reliability.