Reliability & Validity of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): A Meta-Analysis
Abstract
Background: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) provides one of
the most commonly used methods for assessing clinical skill competencies in the
health professions.
Objectives: To investigate the existing published research on the reliability, validity
and feasibility of the OSCE in the assessment of physicians and residents in medical
education programs.
Methods: In addition to a MEDLINE, the literature search for peer-reviewed, journal
publications that used an OSCE assessment method to evaluate clinical skill
competence also included PsychINFO, ERIC and EMBASE databases.
Results:
In total, 49 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria in the final analysis. The
OSCE assessment method has a moderate internal reliability [mean alpha
coefficient (α) = 0.70], low to moderate criterion validity [mean Pearson correlation
(r)= 0.46] and low to moderate construct validity (mean r = 0.42). High heterogeneity
was observed and large part was attributed to multiple sources of measurement
errors. The mean cost per candidate is $353 ± $ 362 (95% Confidence Intervals:
$25-$1083).
Conclusions:
The OSCE method for the assessment of clinical skill competence was found to be
reliable and valid, however, the administration costs are much higher than written or
direct observation of clinical skill performance in practice.
Description
Keywords
Education, Education--Health, Education
Citation
Al Ghaithi, I. (2016). Reliability & Validity of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): A Meta-Analysis (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27615