Academic Achievement Test for Anatomy of the Neck: Validity and Reliability Analysis

OBJECTIVE: Anatomy education remains a fundamental component of medical and dental curricula, and mastering neck anatomy is particularly challenging due to its structural complexity and clinical relevance. Despite its importance, there is a limited number of validated instruments specifically designed to assess academic achievement in neck anatomy. This study aimed to develop and validate the Neck Anatomy Academic Achievement Test (NA-AAT) in Turkish. METHODS: An initial pool of 53 items, including two-tier true/false questions and scenario-based open-ended items, was generated in accordance with curriculum objectives. Content and language validity were evaluated by field experts and language specialists. Following expert review, the test demonstrated strong content validity (CVR = 0.938; CVI = 0.923). The pilot version, consisting of 39 items, was administered to 347 medical and dental students at Ordu University. Item difficulty and discrimination analyses were conducted, and poorly performing items were removed. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and KR-20 coefficients, while inter-rater reliability for scenario-based items was evaluated using Fleiss' kappa. RESULTS: Most items demonstrated moderate difficulty and acceptable discrimination indices. Reliability analyses indicated high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.846; KR-20 = 0.795), and scenario-based items showed excellent inter-rater agreement (Fleiss' κ = 0.993). The final version of the NA-AAT consisted of 24 items that effectively balanced factual knowledge assessment with clinical reasoning skills. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the NA-AAT is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing students' knowledge and reasoning in neck anatomy. The test may serve as a valuable tool for anatomy educators and researchers in evaluating learning outcomes, identifying educational deficiencies, and improving curriculum design in anatomy education.