ECG interpretation abilities in clinical practice: Examining the role of expertise, age, and gender

This study investigated the competence of health professionals at all levels of expertise, medical students, residents, and cardiology consultants, in diagnosing electrocardiography (ECG) abnormalities, with the primary emphasis on professional experience, gender, age, and years in practice. ECG remains a foundational method to diagnose cardiac functions; however, there are disparities among healthcare providers' interpretation skills. Typically, previous studies have examined narrow cohorts, which limits insights into ECG interpretative abilities across the healthcare spectrum. In this study, 72 participants completed a comprehensive ECG interpretation assessment involving common and complex abnormalities, while cognitive engagement was tracked via eye-tracking metrics to evaluate interpretation processes. Data were collected from the professionals using surveys and eye-tracking technology to evaluate ECG interpretation skills. Informed consent was obtained from the participants, and the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute's IRB: QBRI-IRB-2020-01-009 approved the ethical standards followed. The results showed significant differences in diagnostic accuracy based upon expertise. Cardiology consultants showed the highest accuracy, while younger participants between 26 and 30 years outperformed the older groups, and males generally had higher recognition rates overall compared to females. The eye-tracking analysis highlighted prolonged engagement with complex ECG segments, which suggested interpretative challenges. Importantly, targeted educational interventions improved participants' recognition accuracy notably. These findings underscore tailored training programs' potential to enhance ECG interpretation skills, and ultimately improve diagnostic accuracy and patient outcomes. Further, the Random Forest model achieved 81% accuracy in classifying long versus short ECG readings. This study highlights critical gaps in ECG proficiency and advocates for continuous, demographics-based training enhancements. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies to evaluate targeted training interventions' effect on enhancing ECG interpretation skills across a diverse range of healthcare professionals.