The Evaluation and Modification of Standard Airway Assessment Tests for Virtual Anaesthetic Assessments: A Pilot Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Ethics
2.2. Patient Selection
2.3. Study Design and Conduct
2.4. Data Collection
2.5. Data Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Demographics of Patients
3.2. Evaluating the Concordance of Virtual Versus Face-to-Face Airway Assessment
3.3. Performance of Virtual Airway Assessment Tools
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | Results |
---|---|
Age (years) | Median = 37, IQR 30–46 |
Gender | Male 77.7% (73/94) |
Female 22.3% (21/94) | |
BMI (kg/m2) | 24.8 ± 3.9 |
Normal airway at virtual assessment | Yes = 77.7% (73/94) |
(“No” = potentially difficult airways) | No = 22.3% (21/94) |
Normal airway at pre-op assessment | Yes = 75.5% (85/94) |
(“No” = potentially difficult airways) | No = 24.5% (23/94) |
Parameters Assessed | Virtual Assessment | Face-to-Face Assessment | Coefficient | p Value |
---|---|---|---|---|
Upper lip bite test | ||||
Class 1 | 75.5% (71/94) | 83.0% (78/94) | 0.75 | 0.001 |
Class 2 | 21.3% (20/94) | 16.0% (15/94) | (γ) | |
Class 3 | 3.2% (3/94) | 1.0% (1/94) | ||
Mouth opening > 2 fingers | ||||
Yes | 96.8% (91/94) | 100% (94/94) | 0.94 | <0.001 |
No | 3.2% (3/94) | 0 | (φ) | |
Thyromental distance > 3 fingers | ||||
Yes | 92.6% (87/94) | 90.4% (85/94) | 0.05 | 0.660 |
No | 7.4% (7/94) | 9.6% (9/94) | (Φ) | |
Full range of neck movement | ||||
Yes | 100% (94/94) | 100% (94/94) | 1.0 | <0.0001 |
No | 0 | 0 | (Φ) | |
Mallampati score | ||||
Class 1 | 32.6% (28/86) | 42.6% (40/94) | 0.46 | 0.0001 |
Class 2 | 50.0% (43/86) | 34.0% (32/94) | (γ) | |
Class 3 | 11.6% (10/86) | 19.2% (18/94) | ||
Class 4 | 5.8% (5/86) | 4.2% (4/94) | ||
Loose dentition | ||||
Yes | 1.1% (1/94) | 1.1% (1/94) | −0.01 | 0.830 |
No | 98.9% (93/94) | 98.9% (93/94) | (Φ) |
Variables | B | SE | Wald | p-Value | OR | 95% CI (Lower) | 95% CI (Upper) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
vMS | 2.017 | 0.780 | 6.684 | 0.010 | 7.514 | 1.629 | 34.667 |
vULBT | 1.383 | 0.634 | 4.768 | 0.029 | 3.989 | 1.152 | 13.809 |
BMI > 25 | 1.079 | 0.610 | 3.125 | 0.077 | 2.940 | 0.889 | 9.721 |
Tests and Performance Statistics | Virtual MS (Class ≥ 3) | Virtual ULBT (Class 3) | Virtual MS + ULBT (Score ≥ 4) | Virtual MS + ULBT + BMI (MBBS) (Score ≥ 4) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sensitivity | 40.0% | 33.3% | 85.0% | 95.0% |
(95% CI) | (19.1% to 64.0%) | (0.8% to 90.6%) | (62.1% to 96.8%) | (75.1% to 99.9%) |
Specificity | 89.4% | 75.8% | 66.7% | 60.6% |
(95% CI) | (79.4% to 95.6%) | (65.7% to 84.2%) | (54.0% to 77.8%) | (47.8% to 72.4%) |
AUROC | 0.65 | 0.55 | 0.75 | 0.78 |
(95% CI) | (0.54 to 0.75) | (0.44 to 0.65) | (0.65 to 0.84) | (0.68 to 0.86) |
Positive Likelihood Ratio | 3.8 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
(95% CI) | (1.6 to 9.1) | (0.3 to 7.1) | (1.7 to 3.8) | (1.8 to 3.3) |
Negative Likelihood Ratio | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
(95% CI) | (0.5 to 1.0) | (0.4 to 2.0) | (0.1 to 0.6) | (0.0 to 0.6) |
Positive Predictive Value | 53.3% | 4.3% | 43.6% | 42.2% |
(95% CI) | (32.1% to 73.4%) | (0.9% to 19.0%) | (34.4% to 53.2%) | (34.8% to 50.1%) |
Negative Predictive Value | 83.1% | 97.2% | 93.6% | 97.6% |
(95% CI) | (77.3% to 87.7%) | (93.9% to 98.7%) | (83.6% to 97.7%) | (85.4% to 99.6%) |
Accuracy | 77.9% | 74.5% | 70.9% | 68.6% |
(95% CI) | (67.7% to 86.1%) | (64.4% to 82.9%) | (60.1% to 80.2%) | (57.7% to 77.2%) |
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Lim, W.Y.; Ong, S.G.K.; Chai, J.X.; Duran, R.G.; Mohammed Ali, A.H.; Ong, J. The Evaluation and Modification of Standard Airway Assessment Tests for Virtual Anaesthetic Assessments: A Pilot Study. J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14, 342. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14020342
Lim WY, Ong SGK, Chai JX, Duran RG, Mohammed Ali AH, Ong J. The Evaluation and Modification of Standard Airway Assessment Tests for Virtual Anaesthetic Assessments: A Pilot Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2025; 14(2):342. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14020342
Chicago/Turabian StyleLim, Wan Yen, Sharon Gek Kim Ong, Jia Xin Chai, Rhommela Garis Duran, Ahmad Hamidi Mohammed Ali, and John Ong. 2025. "The Evaluation and Modification of Standard Airway Assessment Tests for Virtual Anaesthetic Assessments: A Pilot Study" Journal of Clinical Medicine 14, no. 2: 342. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14020342
APA StyleLim, W. Y., Ong, S. G. K., Chai, J. X., Duran, R. G., Mohammed Ali, A. H., & Ong, J. (2025). The Evaluation and Modification of Standard Airway Assessment Tests for Virtual Anaesthetic Assessments: A Pilot Study. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 14(2), 342. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14020342