Anesthesiologists' airway management expertise: Identifying subjective and objective knowledge gaps

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Medical Education

Background:

• Airway management failures contribute to preventable patient harm.
• Continuing education for anesthesiologists is hindered by unknown knowledge gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify anesthesiologists' subjective and objective knowledge gaps in adult airway management.
• To pinpoint areas where anesthesiologists are incorrect and unaware of their knowledge deficits.

Main Methods:

• An adaptive e-learning program with 103 questions assessed anesthesiologists' knowledge.
• Both subjective (confidence) and objective (test scores) assessments were employed.
• Anesthesiologists in the Capital Region of Denmark were invited to participate.

Main Results:

• Low confidence reported in preoperative planning for difficult airway predictors (69.1%-79.1%).
• Lowest objective scores for obstructive sleep apnea as a predictor (28.8% correct), with significant unawareness (33.5%).
• Correlation found between lower confidence and lower test scores across all assessed areas (r = -0.58 to -0.71).

Conclusions:

• Knowledge gaps exist in critical areas of adult airway management.
• Subjective and objective assessments revealed differing findings, highlighting the need for objective evaluation.
• Objective assessment is vital for tailoring continuing education to address specific anesthesiologist knowledge deficits.