title: The Chinese-version of the CARE measure reliably differentiates between doctors in primary care: a cross-sectional study in Hong Kong.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure is a widely used patient-rated experience measure which has recently been translated into Chinese and has undergone preliminary qualitative and quantitative validation. The objective of this study was to determine the reliability of the Chinese-version of the CARE Measure in reliably differentiating between doctors in a primary care setting in Hong Kong
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from 984 primary care patients attending 20 doctors with differing levels of training in family medicine in 5 public clinics in Hong Kong. The acceptability of the Chinese-CARE measure to patients was assessed. The reliability of the measure in discriminating effectively between doctors was analysed by Generalisability-theory (G-Theory)
  
  
  RESULTS
  The items in the Chinese-CARE measure were regarded as important by patients and there were few 'not applicable' responses. The measure showed high internal reliability (coefficient 0.95) and effectively differentiated between doctors with only 15-20 patient ratings per doctor (inter-rater reliability > 0.8). Doctors' mean CARE measure scores varied widely, ranging from 24.1 to 45.9 (maximum possible score 50) with a mean of 34.6. CARE Measure scores were positively correlated with level of training in family medicine (Spearman's rho 0.493, p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data demonstrate the acceptability, feasibility and reliability of using the Chinese-CARE Measure in primary care in Hong Kong to differentiate between doctors interpersonal competencies. Training in family medicine appears to enhance these key interpersonal skills.
authors.affiliation: Primary Care Research, General Practice and Primary Care, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. s.mercer@clinmed.gla.ac.uk
authors.forename: Stewart W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Mercer
authors.forename: Colman S C
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: Frank W K
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Fiona Y Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Samuel Y S
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult