Factors affecting improvement on the American Board of Surgery In-TrainingExam (ABSITE)

Background. American Board of Surgery In-Training Exam (ABSITE) performance can be used to assess resident knowledge and to evaluate surgical curricul um. To determine factors that lead to improved resident ABSITE performance, a prospective study was performed. Materials and methods. Thirty-four surgical residents in Program Years 2-5 completed pre- and a post-ABSITE questionnaires about their anxiety, self-e fficacy, physical preparation, and academic preparation for the ABSITE. Dep artment records were used to determine resident probationary status and con ference attendance. A preliminary analysis of ABSITE scores indicated a sig nificant improvement between 1998 and 1999 percentile scores (paired t = -2 .25, P = 0.03; m = 11.9, SD = 30.5, median = 7). An improvement in percenti le rank score was calculated and used as the dependent variable in a stepwi se regression analysis. The following served as independent variables: prev ious exam performance, anxiety, probationary status, amount of sleep before exam, confidence to score in the 25th and the 50th percentiles, and attend ance at the three conferences rated most valuable by the residents. Results. Results of the regression analysis demonstrate that all factors ac count for 62.3% of the variance in improvement scores. A stepwise analysis indicated that the combination of attendance (40.2%) and previous performan ce (18.3%) was significant in explaining 58.5% of the variance in improveme nt scores. Furthermore, Pearson's correlations indicated that probationary status (+.58, P = 0.001), anxiety (+0.53, P = 0.001), amount of study (+0.6 1, P = 0.001), past ABSITE performance (-0.60, P = 0.001), and conference a ttendance (+0.56, P = 0.001) were correlated with ABSITE improvement. Conclusions. This study demonstrates that resident individual effort, past ABSITE performance, and academic conference attendance have led to resident ABSITE improvement. (C) 2000 Academic Press.