The Impact of Age and Gender on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination Scores and Pass Rates

Abstract

Purpose: Demographic characteristics may influence individual performance on the entry-level Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE). The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of age and gender on PANCE performance. Methods: PANCE scores were obtained from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) for three cohorts: all first-time PANCE takers from the years 1990, 1995, and 2000. The total study population equaled 9,247. Results: In each of the 3 years studied, there was a statistically significant (P<.0001) negative correlation between age and PANCE score, indicating that lower scores were obtained by older examinees. Failure rates of the examinees reveal a statistically significant (P<.0001) and moderately positive relationship (r=.21) between age and likelihood of failure. In each of the 3 years examined, female examinees significantly outperformed males (P<.0001). The correlation between the PANCE score and age within the female examinee population was r=-.10 (P<.0001), and for the males r=-.23 (P<.0001), yielding a weighted average correlation of r=-.16 (P<.0001 - r2 = .03). The relationship between age and score was significantly more pronounced in the male examinees (P<.0001).