ReviewThe ultrasound journal2023
Unravelling the skillset of point-of-care ultrasound: a systematic review.
Review in The ultrasound journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Augmedicine: Ultrasound: Training in ultrasound using XR - a randomized controlled trial.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- Point-of-care ultrasound in primary care - EFSUMB core curriculum and training recommendations - a position paper.Ultraschall in der Medizin (Stuttgart, Germany : 1980) · 2026Article
- Handheld point-of-care ultrasound for chairside assessment of masseter muscle: a pilot study.Oral radiology · 2026Article
- Association of objective structured clinical examination performance on nurse-led hip ultrasound imaging success: A prospective cohort study.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Article
- Predictive Factors of Augmented Reality-Based Clinical Task Performance Among Novice Users: Cross-Sectional Quantitative Study.JMIR XR and spatial computing · 2026Article
- Ultrasound-Guided Vascular Access Simulation-Based Educational Training Improves Skills and Confidence in Preclinical Medical Students: A Pilot Study.Advances in medical education and practice · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of obstetric point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training: a systematic review and meta-analysis based on the ADDIE training model.The ultrasound journal · 2025Review
- Exploring spatial understanding and cognitive load using ultrasound in learning cardiac anatomy: A pilot study.Anatomical sciences education · 2025Article
- Article
- Validation of a Newly Developed Assessment Tool for Point-of-Care Ultrasound of the Thorax in Healthy Volunteers (VALPOCUS).Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.) · 2025Article
- Development and Face and Content Validation of Augmedicine: Ultrasound-An Extended Reality Application for Ultrasound Training.Australasian journal of ultrasound in medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Abdominal, thoracic, and cardiac point-of-care ultrasound skills following an in-person hands-on training course for early-track emergency clinicians.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Impact of emergency point-of-care ultrasound on time to diagnosis and treatment amongst patients with ectopic pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of medical science : AMS · 2025Review
- Self-assessment and learning motivation in emergency point-of-care ultrasound: an online pilot investigation in German physicians.BMC emergency medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe increasing number of physicians that are trained in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) warrants critical evaluation and improvement of current training methods. Performing POCUS is a complex task and it is unknown which (neuro)cognitive mechanisms are most important in competence development of this skill. This systematic review was conducted to identify determinants of POCUS competence development that can be used to optimize POCUS training.
methodsPubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Emcare, PsycINFO and ERIC databases were searched for studies measuring ultrasound (US) skills and aptitude. The papers were divided into three categories: "Relevant knowledge", "Psychomotor ability" and 'Visuospatial ability'. The 'Relevant knowledge' category was further subdivided in 'image interpretation', 'technical aspects' and 'general cognitive abilities'. Visuospatial ability was subdivided in visuospatial subcategories based on the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) Model of Intelligence v2.2, which includes visuospatial manipulation and visuospatial perception. Post-hoc, a meta-analysis was performed to calculate pooled correlations.
results26 papers were selected for inclusion in the review. 15 reported on relevant knowledge with a pooled coefficient of determination of 0.26. Four papers reported on psychomotor abilities, one reported a significant relationship with POCUS competence. 13 papers reported on visuospatial abilities, the pooled coefficient of determination was 0.16.
conclusionThere was a lot of heterogeneity in methods to assess possible determinants of POCUS competence and POCUS competence acquisition. This makes it difficult to draw strong conclusions on which determinants should be part of a framework to improve POCUS education. However, we identified two determinants of POCUS competence development: relevant knowledge and visuospatial ability. The content of relevant knowledge could not be retrieved in more depth. For visuospatial ability we used the CHC model as theoretical framework to analyze this skill. We could not point out psychomotor ability as a determinant of POCUS competence.
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