Introduction: Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) are widely used in undergraduate medical assessment as they permit broad content coverage, objectivity in scoring, and evaluation of large groups. Post-test item analysis guides retention or revision of items for future use. Objectives: To analyze Physiology MCQs from MBBS Phase I internal assessment using item analysis parameters to generate evidence-based recommendations for revision or retention of items. Methods: This study was a single-test post-hoc item analysis of an existing Physiology MBBS Phase I internal assessment conducted at JIIUs Indian Institute of Medical Science and Research Medical College, Maharashtra, India. All students who appeared for the test were included (n123). The paper comprised 20 single best-answer MCQs, each with one key and three distractors. Item-level analysis was performed on anonymized responses using pre-specified criteria. The KR-20 reliability coefficient was calculated. Results: Final analysis included 123 students and 20 MCQs. The mean score was 9.93 2.48, with a range of 4-16. The mean difficulty index was 0.496, mean discrimination index was 0.303, and mean distractor efficiency was 78.3, and KR-20 reliability coefficient was 0.35. 4 items were difficult, 11 were of moderate difficulty, and 5 were easy. Good discrimination was observed in 5 items, and 11 items had 100 distractor efficiency. Using the operational retention rule, 4 items were retained, 16 required revision, and only 2 items met all three desired criteria. Conclusion: The Physiology MCQs demonstrated acceptable mean difficulty, average discrimination, and good distractor efficiency, however most items required revision before inclusion in departmental MCQ bank.
Ghodke et al. (Sun,) studied this question.