Towards continuous improvement of endoscopy standards: Validation of a colonoscopy assessment form.Emily Boyle, Musallam Al-Akash, Stephen Patchett, Oscar Traynor, Deborah McNamara. Colorectal Disease Accepted manuscript online: 9 NOV 2011 Aim: Assessment of procedural colonoscopy skills is an important and topical. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a competency-based colonoscopy assessment form that would be easy to use, suitable for the assessment of junior and senior endoscopists and potentially be a useful instrument to detect differences in performance standards following different training interventions. Method: A standardised assessment form was developed incorporating a checklist with dichotomous yes/no responses and a global assessment section incorporating several different elements. This form was used prospectively to evaluate colonoscopy cases during the period of the study in several university teaching hospitals. Results were analysed using ANOVA with Bonferroni corrections for post-hoc analysis.Results: 81 procedures were assessed, performed by eight consultant and 19 trainee endoscopists. There were no serious errors. When divided into three groups based on previous experience (novice, intermediate and expert) the assessment form demonstrated statistically significant differences between all three groups (p<0.05). When separate elements were taken into account, the global assessment section was a better discriminator of skill level than the checklist.Conclusion: This form is a valid, easy to use assessment method. We intend to use it to assess the value