Fig 1.
Flow chart of the participants’ selections and groups.
Fig 2.
The graphical visualization of lung sounds using a combination of lines and circles.
A diagram showing inspiration and expiration was used to visualize the lung sounds. In the diagram, the vertical axis represents the pitch of lung sounds and the horizontal axis represents the duration of lung sounds. For respiratory sounds, the thickness of the line represents the loudness of the sound. For the intermittent rales, each crackle is represented by a circle, the height of position indicates the sound’s pitch, and the circle’s size indicates the loudness of the sound. Thus, coarse crackles are presented as circles drawn at a lower position on inspiration and/or expiration. Fine crackles are presented as circles that are drawn at the end of the inspiration and are concentrated at a high position. For continuous rales, a horizontal bar was used. The height of the position of the horizontal bar indicates the pitch of the sound, and the thickness of the bar indicates the loudness of the sound. Wheezes are mainly represented by a horizontal bar at the high end of the expiration and rhonchi are also mainly represented by a horizontal bar at the low end of the expiration.
Fig 3.
Protocol for lung auscultation education and questionnaire and test regarding lung auscultation.
Table 1.
Abnormal lung sounds and where they were listened, as used in the lung auscultation examination.
Table 2.
Changes in the confidence level pertaining to lung auscultation and the score of lung auscultation before and after education (n = 65).