Examiner Fatigue and Ability to Concentrate in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations for Physical Therapist Students.

This study examined the effect of time, method of scoring, and method of recording on examiners' self-perceived fatigue and ability to concentrate, and if those factors have any effect on scoring student performance by the examiners during the administration of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).Twenty-two clinicians and faculty were recruited to participate as examiners of two OSCEs in this study. The examiners were asked to rate their perceived level of fatigue and ability to concentrate at the end of pre-determined blocks of time during two OSCEs using a visual analog scale. Data were analyzed using a mixed-model multi-way ANOVA for repeated measures and paired t-tests.In both OSCEs, there was a significant difference over time, with examiner fatigue increasing over time (p 0.009), with paper showing more fatigue than the electronic recording.The results of this study demonstrate that fatigue and ability to concentrate are factors to consider when conducting an OSCE.