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Clinical photographs as teaching aids: how reliable are they?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Andrew McCombe ,
Peter Williamson  and
Michael Hawke
Andrew McCombe*
Affiliation:
Departments of Otolaryngology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Department of Otolaryngology, Royal United Hospital, Bath, UK.
Peter Williamson
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Royal United Hospital, Bath, UK.
Michael Hawke
Affiliation:
Departments of Otolaryngology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
*
Mr A. McCombe, Department of Otolaryngology, Frimley Park Hospital, Porstmouth Road, Frimley GU16 5UJ
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Abstract

A study to investigate the value and reliability of clinical photographs as teaching aids was undertaken. Twenty colour photographs were taken using the StarMed video-otoscopic system. The pictures, which were a mixture of normal and abnormal ears, were shown to 21 experienced otolaryngologists from the UK and Canada. These clinicians were asked to identify the abnormality if any.

The median score for correctly identified pictures was 15 (range 12–18). This score was identical for both the UK and Canadian subgroups. Although the abnormalities were consistently well recognized with an average correct identification rate of 90 per cent (range 67–100 per cent), the ‘normals’ were recognized significantly less well at only 41 per cent (range 5–71 per cent) (chi-squared = 110.6; 1 df; p<0.001).

This result is probably due to failure of the camera to capture the huge variation and subtleties in the range of normal, and the clinicians' natural inclination to identify pathology, when in doubt. We would conclude that as long as this failing is recognized, clinical photographs, and specifically those from the video-otoscope, represent a useful and reliable teaching tool.

Keywords

Photography, clinicalTeaching materials
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 109 , Issue 8 , August 1995 , pp. 741 - 743
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1995

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Footnotes

This work was carried out in part whilst A. McCombe was a TWJ Research Fellow at the University of Toronto.

References

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