Two-dimensional structure of the MAAS-Global rating list for consultation skills of doctors

• Published in: Medical teacher 2012-01, Vol.34 (12), p.e794-e799
• Main Authors: van Es, Judy M., Schrijver, Charles J.W., Oberink, Riëtta H.H., Visser, Mechteld R.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Clinical competence; Communication; Communication Skills; Communication skills training; Consultants; Correlation analysis; Discriminant analysis; Doctors; Empathy; Factor Analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; General Practitioners - education; Humans; Individual Characteristics; Male; Netherlands; Personal characteristics; Physician-Patient Relations; Professional Competence - standards; Referral and Consultation - standards; Reproducibility of Results; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teaching methods; Trainees; Validity
• ISSN: 0142-159X; 1466-187X
• DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2012.709652

Background: The MAAS-Global (MG) is widely used to assess doctor-patient communication skills. Reliability and validity have been investigated, but little is known about its dimensionality. Assuming physicians tend to adopt certain styles or preferences in their communication with patients, a multi-dimensional structure of the MG can be hypothesized. Aim: This study investigates the dimensional structure of the MG and explores the validity of this structure by studying the relationship between potential MG sub-scales and general practice speciality trainees' personal characteristics. Methods: Communication skills of 68 first-year trainees in a two-station objective structured clinical examination were assessed. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the resulting MG item-scores. With t-tests and correlational analysis, the relationship between MG scores and trainees' personal characteristics was examined. Results: Two well-interpretable factors were found, representing patient-oriented and task-oriented communication skills. Being born in the Netherlands and empathy were positively associated with overall communication skills. Prior communication skills training was exclusively related to task-oriented communication skills. Empathy was associated with patient-oriented, but not with task-oriented communication skills. Conclusion: The two-dimensional structure of the MG may be valuable in gaining a better understanding of factors influencing the acquisition of communication skills. This may be used to optimize teaching methods in communication skills training.