Table 3.
Training of personnel performing ultrasound examination
| Author(s) | Study location | # of anomalies detected (%) | Information about training of personnel performing antenatal ultrasound examinations |
| Africa | |||
| Adeleye et al24 | Nigeria | 6/43 (14) | Radiologists performed 5% of cases; medical doctors performed 11%; unknown training/status performed 84% of cases |
| Adeleye and Joel-Medewase25 | Nigeria | 26/146 (17.8) | 22% of ultrasounds performed by a radiologist; sonographers in rest of the cases were personnel with unknown training; authors noted that prenatal diagnosis was significantly more likely in cases where sonographer was certified radiologist |
| Akinmoladun et al44 | Nigeria | 15/16 (93.8) | A consultant radiologist trained in fetal anomaly scanning performed all the scans (the authors note that this radiologist received extensive training at a renowned centre in the UK) |
| Idowu and Olawehinmi27 | Nigeria | 23/91 (25.3) | Authors noted that low diagnosis ‘may be due to the high prevalence of the test being done by non-specialist (untrained radiologist) in our environment’ |
| Wesonga et al31 | Uganda | 1/41 (2.4) | Performed by ultrasound technicians holding a diploma; no further information about diploma |
| Asia | |||
| Liao et al50 | China | 28/36 (77.8) | Ten certified physicians participated in the study protocol, each of whom has more than 5 years of experience in fetal sonography |
| Xie et al91 | China | Not specified | 2 sonographers—1 with 10 years of experience in obstetric sonography and the other with 22 years of experience |
| Sanghvi et al56 | India | 65/125 (52) | Performed by ‘experienced sonologists’ |
| Ghavami and Abedinzadeh92 | Iran | Not specified | Performed by ‘two expert operators’ |
| Pitukkijronnakorn et al64 | Thailand | 144/316 (45.6) | All scans were performed by an obstetrician who was trained as a level one ultrasonography; in cases of uncertain abnormal findings, the women were reviewed by a level two obstetrician with repeated scans |
| Europe | |||
| Iliescu et al66 | Romania | 74/76 (97.4) | Scans performed by obstetricians specialising in prenatal diagnosis (including the anomaly scan and echocardiography) who had held accreditation for the 11–14 weeks assessment for at least 5 years prior to the start of the study period |
| Dane et al74 | Turkey | 23/24 (95.8) | 2 operators with approximately 6 years and 2 years of experience in gestational ultrasound scanning |
| Kutuk et al93 | Turkey | Not specified | All ultrasound scans performed by ‘two experienced maternal-fetal specialists’ |
| Oztekin et al76 | Turkey | 19/21 (90.5) | All scans performed by the same experienced radiologist |
| North America | |||
| Johnson et al42 | Jamaica | 44/57 (77.2) | 8 OB/GYN residents in training for at least 2 years |