Incorporating Physician Input Into a Maintenance of Certification Examination: A Content Validity Tool.

PURPOSE: As part of the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM's) continuing effort to update its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program, a content validity tool was used to conduct structured reviews of MOC exam blueprints (i.e., test specification tables) by the physician community. Results from the Cardiovascular Disease MOC blueprint review are presented to illustrate the process ABIM conducted for several internal medicine disciplines. METHOD: Ratings of topic frequency and importance were collected from cardiologists in 2016 using a three-point scale (low, medium, high). The web-based survey instrument presented 188 blueprint topic descriptions, each combined with five patient-related tasks (e.g., diagnosis, treatment). Descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis were employed. RESULTS: Responses from 441 review participants were analyzed. Frequency and importance ratings were aggregated as a composite statistic representing clinical relevance, and exam assembly criteria were modified to select questions, or items, addressing clinically relevant content only. Specifically, ≥ 88% of exam items now address high-importance topics, including ≤ 15% on topics that are also low frequency; and ≤ 12% of exam items now address medium-importance topics, including ≤ 3% on topics that are also low frequency. The updated blueprint has been published for test takers and provides enhanced information on content that would and would not be tested in subsequent examinations. It is linked to more detailed feedback that examinees receive on items answered incorrectly. CONCLUSIONS: The blueprint review garnered valuable feedback from the physician community and provided new evidence for the content validity of the Cardiovascular Disease MOC exam.

Renal Response in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Predicts Outcome Following Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) severity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in congestive heart failure. There is a paucity of data regarding renal improvement after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and its potential impact on clinical outcomes, especially in patients with severe CKD. METHOD: This was a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected cohort of 260 patients with CKD undergoing CRT at a single center. Renal function was compared before and after CRT. The primary end point was a composite of death, heart transplant, and left ventricular assist device (LVAD), assessed at 5 years. RESULTS: Patients with more severe CKD demonstrated increased risk of death, transplant, or LVAD following CRT (P = 0.015). Renal response (estimated glomerular filtration rate improvement ≥10 mL/min/1.73 m(2) ) was observed in 14% of all patients and 28% of patients with stage IV CKD. Independent predictors of renal response included left ventricular ejection fraction improvement (odds ratio [OR] 1.06, confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.10), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker use (OR 4.31, CI 1.08-17.23), and advanced CKD stage (OR 2.19, CI 1.14-4.23). Renal response independently decreased hazard of the primary outcome (HR 0.24, CI 0.08-0.73, P = 0.01). Renal responders with stage IV CKD had 80% 5-year event-free survival, compared to 0% for nonrenal responders in stage IV (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Although severity of CKD is associated with poorer outcome after CRT, improvement in renal function can occur in patients across all CKD stages. Renal responders, including those with stage IV CKD, demonstrate favorable 5-year outcomes. Assessment of renal response may help better prognostic outcomes following CRT.