IN THE NEWS

The following abstract was accepted for a poster session at the 2006 American Thoracic Society annual conference in San Diego:

2487 - Test Performance and Candidate Demographic Analyses from the National Asthma Educator Certification Board

Introduction: The National Asthma Educator Certification Exam was developed in 2002 in order to standardize the process by which asthma educators, coordinators and counselors are certified and to evaluate their effectiveness in disease management. Since its inception 1,942 health care professionals have taken the exam with a pass rate of 71%. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of health care professional taking the exam, identify factors associated with exam pass or failure, and recommend ways to increase both testing and pass rates and among underrepresented groups.

Methods: Data from 736 examinees completing Form 3 of the National Asthma Educator Certification Board Examination between October 2003 and June 2005 were analyzed using univariate and bivariate statistics.

Results: The majority of health care professionals that took the exam are respiratory therapists/ pulmonary function technologists, (41%) and nurses (31%). Over half (54%) work in hospitals and 27% physicians' offices. Fifty-six percent work in an urban health care setting, 26% suburban, and 15% in a rural. Pass rates varied dramatically by practice setting with the highest rates (85%) among those working in physicians' offices and university settings, and the lowest (69%) in hospital settings. There was little difference in pass rate by urban versus rural setting.

Conclusions: Further study is required to identify ways to improve test scores among health care workers in hospital settings, and to increase test taking among health care workers in rural settings.

Yvonne Wasilewski, PhD, MPH is the author and presenter. She is a board member of the NAECB and works at Duke University in the Center for Child and Family Policy.

The poster (#106) session will be on Monday, May 22, 2006 in Room 24 A/B/C (upper level) of the San Diego Convention Center from 8:15-11:00am.