Communication Training in Adult and Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. A Systematic Review.

Abstract

Background: Interpersonal and communication skills are essential for physicians practicing in critical care settings. Accordingly, demonstration of these skills has been a core competency of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education since 2014. However, current practices regarding communication skills training in adult and pediatric critical care fellowships are not well described.Objective: To describe the current state of communication curricula and training methods in adult and pediatric critical care training programs as demonstrated by the published literature.Methods: We performed a systematic review of the published literature using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. Three authors reviewed a comprehensive set of databases and independently selected articles on the basis of a predefined set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were independently extracted from the selected articles.Results: The 23 publications meeting inclusion criteria fell into the following study classifications: intervention (n = 15), cross-sectional survey (n = 5), and instrument validation (n = 3). Most interventional studies assessed short-term and self-reported outcomes (e.g., learner attitudes and perspectives) only. Fifteen of 22 publications represented pediatric subspecialty programs.Conclusion: Opportunities exist to evaluate the influence of communication training programs on important outcomes, including measured learner behavior and patient and family outcomes, and the durability of skill retention.