Abstract
In German-speaking countries "breaking bad news" courses are increasingly included in the medical undergraduate curriculum. In this paper we present an instrument (Aufklärungsgesprächbewertungsskala, AGBS) for the evaluation of communication competencies in the context of disclosing the diagnosis of cancer to patients as well as the results of the reliability analysis for this instrument. Following a systematic literature review we selected the "breaking bad news assessment schedule" (BAS) as a model for developing the AGBS. The checklist was translated into German and modified. Following the use of the instrument in a teaching module for 4th year medical students Cronbach's alpha was calculated for the estimation of internal consistency, the intraclass coefficient (ICC) was used for the estimation of interrater reliability. 58 videotaped interactions between students and simulated patients were used for reliability analysis. The AGBS shows good values with respect to internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.88) and overall interrater reliability (ICC 0.86). Further analysis indicates that the values for interrater reliability differ depending on the communication competencies evaluated when using the AGBS. The AGBS is a reliable instrument which may be used in medical undergraduate courses to evaluate student-simulated patient interaction during the disclosure of cancer diagnosis. The varying values for the interrater reliability in the different parts of the AGBS may serve as a basis for the further development of instruments for the evaluation of communication skills.
Published Version
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