CA exam: Sample of questions

Ketafol versus propofol alone for ED procedural sedation and analgesia

  • Summarise the paper in 200 words
  • Give 6 points of good study designs
  • All study medications were prepared in identical 20 ml polypropylene syringes. Why is this important?
  • Define categorical data? Give an example of categorical data from the paper?  define continuous data? and give example
  • The results showed 2% difference in rate of adverse respiratory events between groups. Why do the authors state there is no difference
  • What does power of 80% mean?why is it important to perform a 2-sided calculation?
  • What is P value? , in table 3, p= 0.001 is given, what does this mean? Is 95% confident interval consistent with this p value?
  • Give 3 limitations of this study. Describe briefly for each point why you feel it is a limitation.

Diagnostic performance of venous lactate on a rival to the ED for MI

  • Summarise 200 words
  • Define double blinded. Who was blinded in this study?
  • What was the reference standard in this study? Comment on this
  • What is kappa statistic?
  • Figure 4 shows a ROC curve. what does ROC curve tell us
  • Would you advocate the use of lactate to rule out MI in patients presenting to ED? Give 3 reasons why

S100-B protein as a screening tool for the early assessment of minor head injury

  • Summarise in 200 words
  • Describe the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and comment on their appropriateness
  • What outcome measures were used? Describe an alternative outcome measure that might be more appropriate
  • Table 5 presents a range of performance parameter. which do you consider the most important and why?
  • Should we invest in POC S100-B testing device?  Give 3 pros and cons for doing this

Point of care trypsinogen testing for the diagnosis of pancreatitis

  • Write a 200 words summary
  • What is a reference standard? Why do diagnostic paper need one? What is the reference standard in this paper? and why could it be biased?
  • What is the reason for blinding? who was blinded in this study?
  • Comment on the recruitment process in this study? Do you think it’s a representative sample?
  • Comment on sensitivity and specificity of the urine trypsinogen?
  • What is the likelihood ratio? Comment on the calculation in this paper?
  • Would you recommend that this test is used in your ED? Give 6 reasons either way

Impact of triage liaison physician on ED overcrowding

  • Write a 200 words summary
  • What is the purpose of randomisation?  what type of randomisation used in this study? comment on this
  • Who was blinded in this study?
  • What is Hawthorn effect? and how is it relevant in this study? could this be avoided?
  • The TPL was an additional member of staff. comment on this
  • Any outcome measures they could have used?
  • What is IQR? and do you think this is a good way of describing data? what else could be used?