Objective: Laryngeal ultrasonography (LUS) is a non-invasive alternative to nasal endoscopy for diagnosing vocal fold pathologies in the pediatric population. Despite its advantages, interpreting ultrasound images is highly subjective, potentially undermining diagnostic accuracy. This study evaluated the effects of training on LUS image interpretation proficiency in speech pathology students. It also evaluated whether examiners’ interpretation confidence increases after receiving the training.

Methods: Thirty-eight speech pathology students were recruited as novice examiners. They were randomly assigned to the experimental and control group. Examiners in the experimental group received training on how to interpret pediatric laryngeal ultrasound images, while examiners assigned to the control group did not receive any training. The training package used the stimulus-response-feedback-stimulus paradigm. Two parameters were used to evaluate training effectiveness: Accuracy in identifying the presence of vocal fold pathologies (qualitative judgments) and in measuring the left and right vocal fold-arytenoid angles (quantitative measurements).

Results: Results showed that training significantly improved the accuracy in identifying the presence of vocal fold pathologies. Quantitatively, statistically significant effects were found post-training with enhanced intra-rater agreement and reduced inter-rater variability. Moreover, interpretation confidence was significantly enhanced following training.

Conclusions: The results suggest an overall significant training effect on speech pathology students’ proficiency in LUS image interpretation.