Furthering the Validity of a Tool to Assess Simulated Pregnancy Options Counseling Skills.
OBJECTIVE
To further the validity of a tool to assess nondirective pregnancy options counseling skills.


METHODS
Using a cross-sectional design, we explored four sources of construct validity evidence for an objective structured clinical examination for training and assessment of nondirective pregnancy options counseling: content, response process, internal structure, and relations to other variables. Content of the previously developed tool was enhanced through input from five family medicine educators. The objective structured clinical examination was implemented in a family medicine clerkship with third-year medical students from 2014 to 2015 using trained raters. Response process was addressed after a pilot round. Three new raters evaluated videotapes of 46 performances. Cronbach's alpha, intraclass correlation coefficients, and Spearman's rho were estimated with 95% confidence intervals.


RESULTS
The content validity was affirmed. Cronbach's alpha was 0.71. According to Landis and Koch's criteria, all but two items unique to the clinical situation of pregnancy options counseling generated substantial to perfect agreement (0.62-1.00). Relations to other variables within the checklist were strong, ranging from 0.66 to 0.87.


CONCLUSIONS
This tool for assessing pregnancy options counseling skills has excellent content and strong internal structure. Further work to improve the Global Rating Scale may be necessary for summative use.
Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical and Population Health Sciences Research, and Medicine, Family Medicine, and Community Health, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, and the Department of Psychology, Florida, International University, Miami, Florida.
Carla
C
Lupi
Melissa
M
Ward-Peterson
Stefany
S
Coxe
Suzanne
S
Minor
Irmanie
I
Eliacin
Vivian
V
Obeso