[Validity and reliability of an instrument to assess the clinical interviews of residents in family and community medicine: the GATHA-RES questionnaire].
OBJECTIVE
To check the validity of content, the internal consistency and the intra-observer reliability of a questionnaire to evaluate the doctor-patient communication of family medicine residents.


METHODS
Observation study, to validate a measurement instrument.


METHODS
Primary care. Family and community medicine teaching units.


METHODS
For the validity analysis: 25 family and community medicine residents. For the reliability analysis: 48 doctors in the same speciality.


METHODS
The questionnaire was constructed on the basis of a version (GATHA-BASE) composed of 42 items selected by a panel of 60 general practitioners. For content validity, 68 clinical encounters with simulated patients, video-recorded and evaluated, were used. The questionnaire's validity content was studied through a factorial analysis. To measure its internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated. Intra-observer reliability of the GATHA-RES version was evaluated through the kappa indexes and the intra-class correlation coefficients.


RESULTS
We obtained a version of the GATHA-RES with 27 items. The factorial analysis revealed that there were 9 factors (<<empathy>>, <<anamnesis>>, <<two-way communication>>, <<negotiation>>, <<information>>, <<miscellaneous 1>>, <<miscellaneous 2>> and <<patient-focused>>) which showed close correlation with the theoretical and formal contents of the original questionnaire (originally grouped in three sections: attitudes, communication tasks and skills). All the intraclass correlation coefficients had figures > or = 0.90.


CONCLUSIONS
The GATHA-RES questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used for evaluating the communication skills of general practitioners in training.
Ruiz Moral
R
R
Unidad Docente de Medicina de Familia y Comunitaria de Córdoba, Spain. med021013@nacom.es
Prados Castillejo
J A
JA
Alba Jurado
M
M
Bellón Saameño
J
J
Pérula de Torres
L A
LA
D003142:Communication; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D015588:Observer Variation; D016544:Patient Simulation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results