[Validity and reliability of a tool for assessing clinical communication in consultations: the CICAA questionnaire].

OBJECTIVE

To assess the validity and reliability of a tool for evaluating the clinical communication skills of health professionals.

DESIGN

Descriptive study of the validation of a tool.

SETTING

Primary and specialist care.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty communication experts, in 31 interviews with patients seen by real and standardised nurses, primary care, and specialist doctors, residents with acute and chronic patients.

INTERVENTIONS

The study looked at a 36-item, multidimensional evaluative scale on 3 levels, based on the CICAA theoretical model of an interview and examined: 1) its apparent validity, consensus, and content: the clinical communication experts made 2 assessments, a qualitative one and one to weigh the importance of the remaining items; 2) its internal consistency and intra-observer reliability. An expert evaluated 31 interviews, video-recorded on 2 occasions with a 1-to-2 month interval.

RESULTS

A 29-item scale was obtained. Cronbach's alpha was 0.957 (95% CI, 0.932-0.976). The overall Intra-class Correlation Coefficient was 0.967 (95% CI, 0.933-0.984). The Kappa values of the items were <0.4 in 3, 0.4-0.6 in 6, 0.6-0.8 in 14, and >0.8 in 4.

CONCLUSIONS

The CICAA is a valid and reliable questionnaire for evaluating the clinical communication between various health professionals and patients.