Com‐On Questionnaire: Development and validation of a questionnaire for evaluating communication skills of oncologists

Objective The present study aimed to develop and validate an instrument for assessing the communication skills of oncology physicians from a patient's point of view. Methods A first draft of the questionnaire was compiled based on skills reflecting good physician–patient communication identifie...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	European journal of cancer care Vol. 31; no. 6; pp. e13684 - n/a
Main Authors:	Wuensch, Alexander, Boden, Maren J., Pärschke, Pia P., Peltzer, Samia, Figueiredo, Marcelo Niglio, Bylund, Carma L., Zimmer, Heinz, Vitinius, Frank
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford Hindawi Limited 01-11-2022
Subjects:	Cancer Classical test theory Communication communication skill training Communication skills Evaluation exploratory factor analysis Factor analysis Oncology Patient-centered care Patients patient‐centred communication Physician patient relationships Physicians physicians' communication skills questionnaire development Questionnaires Reliability analysis Selectivity
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Objective The present study aimed to develop and validate an instrument for assessing the communication skills of oncology physicians from a patient's point of view. Methods A first draft of the questionnaire was compiled based on skills reflecting good physician–patient communication identified in the literature. The questionnaire was critically revised by experts to ensure the validity of its contents. The revised questionnaire was completed by a sample of 153 cancer patients. The questionnaire was developed in German and later translated into English. Results After analysis using classical test theory and an exploratory factor analysis, four different factors could be extracted. These factors were labelled setting, patient‐centeredness, empathy and consulting competencies. Unsuitable items were eliminated within the analysis. All remaining items hold an appropriate degree of selectivity, item difficulty and reliability/consistency. Conclusion A novel questionnaire for evaluating communication skills of physicians was developed. It contains 36 items and is named ‘Com‐On Questionnaire: Questionnaire for the Evaluation of Physician's Communication Skills in Oncology’. Practice Implications The questionnaire is suitable for measuring both the strengths and deficits within the physician–patient communication in oncology from the patients' perspective.
Bibliography:	Funding information This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not‐for‐profit sectors. This work is the master thesis of MB and PP. Expenses for photocopying and Mail were covered by the Technical University of Munich, Germany, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy and the University of Cologne, Germany, University Hospital, Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0961-5423 1365-2354
DOI:	10.1111/ecc.13684