[EXTERNAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT FOR THE LABORATORY IDENTIFICATION OF THE PATHOGENS OF PARASITIC DISEASES AS AN ELEMENT...

Area of Science:

• Medical Parasitology
• Laboratory Diagnostics
• Public Health

Background:

• Postgraduate training for health workers is crucial for improving diagnostic accuracy.
• External Quality Assessment (EQA) systems play a vital role in evaluating laboratory competence.
• Microscopic identification of parasitic pathogens in feces is a key diagnostic skill.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the professional competence of laboratory specialists in identifying parasitic disease pathogens using virtual tools.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of virtual remote educational computer technology in postgraduate training.
• To identify areas of weakness in the detection of specific helminths and protozoa.

Main Methods:

• Utilized virtual remote educational computer technology with various parasitic species and artefacts.
• Covered 984 laboratories across all Federal Districts of the Russian Federation.
• Analyzed 8245 responses from laboratory specialists.

Main Results:

• Overall helminth detection rate was 64.0%, with lower rates for trematodes (55.1%) and specific species like Metagonimus (10.2%) and Clonorchis (34.9%).
• Detection rates for geohelminths and contagious helminths showed similar downward trends.
• Competence in identifying intestinal protozoa was significantly lower than for helminths.

Conclusions:

• Virtual EQA is a leading element for postgraduate training of laboratory specialists in parasitic disease diagnosis.
• Results indicate a need for improved training programs, particularly for detecting certain trematodes and intestinal protozoa.
• Modular approaches to training modernization are recommended based on EQA findings.