Related Experiment Videos
Electrocardiogram interpretation in general practice: relevance to prehospital thrombolysis
1Department of Cardiology, Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Objective:
To assess, in the context of their possible role in prehospital thrombolysis, the ability of general practitioners to recognise acute transmural myocardial ischaemia/infarction on an electrocardiogram.
Design:
150 doctors (every fifth name) were selected from the alphabetical list of 750 on Merseyside general practitioner register and without prior warning were asked to interpret a series of six 12 lead electrocardiograms. Three of these showed acute transmural ischaemia/infarction, one was normal, and two showed non-acute abnormalities. Details of doctors' ages, postgraduate training, and clinical practice were sought.
Setting:
General practitioners' surgeries and postgraduate centres within the Merseyside area.
Participants:
106 general practitioners (mean age 45 years) agreed to participate.
Main Outcome Measure:
Accuracy of general practitioners' interpretations of the six electrocardiograms.
Results:
82% of general practitioners correctly recognised a normal electrocardiogram. Recognition of acute abnormalities was less reliable. Between 33% and 61% correctly identified acute transmural ischaemia/infarction depending on the specific trace presented. Accurate localisation of the site of the infarct was achieved only by between 8% and 30% of participants, while between 22% and 25% correctly interpreted non-acute abnormalities. Neither routine use of electrocardiography nor postgraduate hospital experience in general medicine was associated with significantly greater expertise.
Conclusion:
The current level of proficiency of a sample of general practitioners in the Merseyside area in recognising acute transmural ischaemia/infarction on an electrocardiogram suggests that refresher training is needed if general practitioners are to give prehospital thrombolysis.