Background: Healthcare professionals’ communication skills are valuable indicators of quality of care. A critical component to instituting compassionate, patient-centred care is the training of healthcare providers and, within this area, self-evaluation of professional skills is an essential requirement. This study is aimed at developing and validating a new questionnaire to measure how healthcare professionals self-evaluate their ability to communicate with patients. Methods: The HCCQ-C (Health Care Communication Questionnaire form C) was developed based on an existing tool, the 13-item HCCQ (1), created to measure patients’ experience of communication with healthcare professionals. The new form C was initially extended to 36 items and was conceived as a tool to be completed by healthcare professionals to self-evaluate their communication skills. 319 healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, and rehabilitation personnel), 66% female, mean aged 42±10 years, completed a 36-item questionnaire. Internal validity was assessed with exploratory factor analysis (EFA), with Maximum Likelihood extraction method and Oblimin rotation method. Criterion validity was evaluated through correlations with other scales, and reliability with Cronbach’s alpha. Results: EFA showed a 29-item 5-factor solution with appropriate face validity and good reliability: 6-item Patient centeredness (alpha=.92), 5-item Kindness (alpha=.77), 4-item Understanding (alpha=.83), 8-item Empathy, and 6-item Rudeness (alpha = .73). None of the factors, except Rudeness, were affected by social desirability. All factors, except Rudeness, correlated with Self-efficacy (p < .05), while Rudeness correlated with Cynicism (p
Gremigni P., Sommaruga M. (2010). The self-evaluation of communication skills: development of a new questionnaire. SINE LOCO : EACH.
The self-evaluation of communication skills: development of a new questionnaire
GREMIGNI, PAOLA;
2010
Abstract
Background: Healthcare professionals’ communication skills are valuable indicators of quality of care. A critical component to instituting compassionate, patient-centred care is the training of healthcare providers and, within this area, self-evaluation of professional skills is an essential requirement. This study is aimed at developing and validating a new questionnaire to measure how healthcare professionals self-evaluate their ability to communicate with patients. Methods: The HCCQ-C (Health Care Communication Questionnaire form C) was developed based on an existing tool, the 13-item HCCQ (1), created to measure patients’ experience of communication with healthcare professionals. The new form C was initially extended to 36 items and was conceived as a tool to be completed by healthcare professionals to self-evaluate their communication skills. 319 healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, and rehabilitation personnel), 66% female, mean aged 42±10 years, completed a 36-item questionnaire. Internal validity was assessed with exploratory factor analysis (EFA), with Maximum Likelihood extraction method and Oblimin rotation method. Criterion validity was evaluated through correlations with other scales, and reliability with Cronbach’s alpha. Results: EFA showed a 29-item 5-factor solution with appropriate face validity and good reliability: 6-item Patient centeredness (alpha=.92), 5-item Kindness (alpha=.77), 4-item Understanding (alpha=.83), 8-item Empathy, and 6-item Rudeness (alpha = .73). None of the factors, except Rudeness, were affected by social desirability. All factors, except Rudeness, correlated with Self-efficacy (p < .05), while Rudeness correlated with Cynicism (pI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
