TITLE:
Interpretation of British experts’ illustrations of fetal heart rate (FHR) decelerations by Consultant Obstetricians, registrars and midwives: A prospective study—Reasons for major disagreement with experts and implications for clinical practice
AUTHORS:
Shashikant L. Sholapurkar
KEYWORDS:
Fetal Heart Rate Decelerations; Electronic Fetal Monitoring; Cardiotocograph; Intrapartum Monitoring
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.3 No.6,
July
17,
2013
ABSTRACT: Objective: To test the reproducibility of British experts’ (eFM, K2MS, Gibb and
Arulkumaran) [1-3] illustrations of fetal heart rate
(FHR) decelerations by trained British Obstetricians and midwives. To analyze
reasons for any discrepancies by examining factors relating to the participants,
British experts’ descriptions and NICE guidelines [4]. Design: Prospective
observational study. Setting: National Health Service (NHS) Hospitals. Participants: 38 Obstetric Consultants, 49 registrars and 45 midwives. Methods: Printed questionnaire. Statistical Analysis: Fisher’s Exact test. Results: This largest study of its kind showed almost unbelievably high disconnect
between CTG interpretation by experts and participants. 98% - 100% midwives, 80%
- 100% Registrars and 74% - 100% Consultants categorized FHR decelerations
differently from the five experts’ illustrations/interpretations (p Conclusions: The high degree of disagreement
with the experts’ illustrations (p