Korinek Lauri L, Thompson Laetitia L, McRae Cynthia, Korinek Elizabeth
Neuropsychological Services, Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan, Denver, Colorado, USA.
Acad Med. 2009 Aug;84(8):1015-21. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181ad00a2.
Research suggests that there are concerns about the neuropsychological functioning of physicians who undergo physician competency evaluation. Academic health center faculty often participate in the evaluation and remediation of these physicians. The purpose of this study was to compare the cognitive abilities between a group of physicians referred for competency evaluations and a control group.
Using the MicroCog, a computerized neuropsychological screen originally designed for physicians, the authors compared the cognitive performance of 267 physicians referred for competency evaluations with a control group of 68 recruited physicians. Physicians referred for competency evaluations took the MicroCog as a part of their evaluation at CPEP, the national Center for Personalized Education for Physicians, from January 1997 to January 2004. The control group comprised practicing physicians whose competency was not in question.
Compared with the control group, the competency evaluation group had a greater proportion of physicians with scores suggesting possible cognitive impairment and performed significantly lower on scores of processing speed, processing accuracy, and cognitive proficiency. The control group of physicians performed significantly better than the age- and education-corrected normative sample.
Because there were significant neuropsychological differences between physicians referred for competency evaluations and physicians whose competency was not in question, it is important that neuropsychological screening be included as part of physicians' competency evaluations.
研究表明，人们对接受医师能力评估的医师的神经心理功能存在担忧。学术健康中心的教员经常参与这些医师的评估和补救工作。本研究的目的是比较一组被转介进行能力评估的医师与一个对照组之间的认知能力。
作者使用最初为医师设计的计算机化神经心理筛查工具MicroCog，比较了267名被转介进行能力评估的医师与68名招募的医师组成的对照组的认知表现。1997年1月至2004年1月期间，被转介进行能力评估的医师在国家医师个性化教育中心CPEP将MicroCog作为其评估的一部分。对照组由能力不成问题的执业医师组成。
与对照组相比，能力评估组中得分表明可能存在认知障碍的医师比例更高，在处理速度、处理准确性和认知熟练度得分上显著更低。对照组医师的表现明显优于经年龄和教育校正的常模样本。
由于被转介进行能力评估的医师与能力不成问题的医师之间存在显著的神经心理差异，因此将神经心理筛查作为医师能力评估的一部分很重要。
