Varying levels of difficulty index of skills-test items randomly selected by examinees on the Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to characterize the difficulty index of the items in the skills test components of the class I and II Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination (KEMTLE), which requires examinees to select items randomly.

Methods: The results of 1,309 class I KEMTLE examinations and 1,801 class II KEMTLE examinations in 2013 were subjected to analysis. Items from the basic and advanced skills test sections of the KEMTLE were compared to determine whether some were significantly more difficult than others.