To evaluate the value of self-teaching of wall motion evaluation through feedback training by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) for beginners in comparison with traditional teaching mode.

From July 2022 to September 2022, 40 medical undergraduates without echocardiographic knowledge who were studying in the Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University were recruited and randomly divided into either a traditional teaching (TT) group or an STE self-teaching (ST) group. Students in the TT group were tutored by a senior echocardiographer for wall motion evaluation, and students in the ST group were trained through comparison and feedback between two-dimensional cineloop and strain results by themselves. Both groups underwent a two-stage training session (25 cases each stage). The abnormal detection rate, normal exclusion rate and overall coincidence rate were calculated and compared between the two groups. Further view- and segment-based comparisons of results between and within groups in the second-stage test were also performed.

The abnormal detection rate, normal exclusion rate, and overall coincidence rate were similar between the TT and ST groups in both baseline and first-stage tests (P＞0.05 for all). In the second-stage test, the abnormal detection rate and overall coincidence rate were better in the TT group than in the ST group (abnormal detection rate, 73.4% vs 56.8%; overall coincidence rate, 72.9% vs 64.0%; P＜0.05 for both). The abnormal detection rate, normal exclusion rate, and overall coincidence rate in the apical two chamber view, and the abnormal detection rate and overall coincidence rate in the apical three and four chamber views were all significantly better in the TT group than in the ST group (P＜0.05 for all), but the results between different views within both groups were not significantly different (P＞0.05 for all). The abnormal detection rate and overall coincidence rate in basal and middle segments were better in the TT group than in the ST group (P＜0.05). In the TT group, the abnormal detection rate in apical segments was higher than that in basal and middle segments (P＜0.05). The abnormal detection rate gradually increased from basal to middle to apical segments in the ST group, and the overall coincidence rate was higher in apical segments than in basal and middle segments (P＜0.05).

The early training effects of STE ST mode are similar to those of TT mode for wall motion evaluation in beginners. However, STE ST comes to the plateau without further improvement due to the lack of guidance during the following training, leading to lower performance than TT mode, especially in the basal and middle segments.