Protocol for a Delphi Consensus Study to Determine the Essential and Optional Ultrasound Skills for Medical Practitioners Working in District Hospitals in South Africa

Abstract

With increasing access to point of care ultrasound (POCUS) at district hospitals in South Africa, there is a lack of standardisation of skillsets among medical practitioners working at this level of care. This study protocol aims to use the Delphi process to achieve expert consensus on the essential and optional ultrasound skills required for medical practitioners working in district hospitals in South Africa. In alignment with the Delphi method, several iterative rounds will be implemented from June to November 2022. Purposive sampling will be conducted, through the recruitment of two representatives from each academic department of family medicine and two medical doctors working in district hospitals in each province in the country (N = 36). The POCUS skillsets published by the American Academy of Family Physicians will be circulated in the first iterative round, following which participants may suggest further additions. Once a consensus target of 70% has been achieved, the Delphi process will be finalised. The Delphi process and data analysis will be facilitated by an online Delphi platform. Findings from the study will provide insight into the design of the curriculum for POCUS training for medical practitioners in district hospitals and registrars in family medicine departments across the country.

Building Consensus on the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Skills Required for Effective Healthcare Service Delivery at District Hospitals in South Africa: A Delphi Study

“…In addition, we decided to remove all skillsets that did not prompt a significant change in opinion (<5%) over two or more rounds, designating them as skillsets for which consensus could not be achieved. Although this last aspect is not typically part of a Delphi design, we opted to include it to streamline the process, and we included it in the published protocol [24]. The reporting for this study adheres to the CREDES (Guidance on Conducting and Reporting Delphi Studies) guidelines [25].…”

“…Looking at the existing generalist POCUS publications from sub-Saharan Africa, the varying scope and extent were seen as major limitations. We opted to start with the POCUS skillsets identified in the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) curriculum, since this is the most extensive generalist POCUS publication [24,26]. These 93 skillsets and their descriptions, along with a literature reference for each skillset, formed our starting questionnaire.…”