Psychometric properties of the Attitudes towards Medical Communication Scale in nursing students

Abstract

Background Adequate communication skills in healthcare professionals are one of the key elements required for achieving high-quality healthcare. Thus, measurement instruments able to assess the dimensions related to these skills, including attitudes towards communication, are useful and convenient tools. Objectives To (a) cross-culturally adapt and validate a scale to measure attitudes towards communication in a sample of nursing students in the Spanish environment; (b) describe the perceived attitudes of nursing degree students towards communication. Methods We conducted an instrumental study. First, we adapted the scale by applying a standardised linguistic validation procedure. After that, we determined its structural equivalence and evaluated its psychometric properties. Participants A total of 255 students participated; their average age was 22.66 years (SD = 4.75) and 82% were female. Results The internal consistency of the scale was adequate (0.75), and the data fit well with the model (CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.99; RMSEA = .01 95% CI [.00–.05]). The overall instrument score poorly correlated with the self-efficacy in communication skills variable. Conclusions The attitudes towards communication scores for these nursing students were high. The Spanish version of the Attitudes Towards Health Communication scale had adequate psychometric properties and this tool could quickly and easily be applied to assess the attitudes of health profession students.

Efficacy of a Standardised Patient Simulation Programme for Chronicity and End-of-Life Care Training in Undergraduate Nursing Students

“…The attitudes towards communication were evaluated using the Spanish version ( Attitudes Towards Health Communication [ 37 ]) of the Attitudes Towards Medical Communication Scale [ 38 ]. This one-dimensional instrument comprises 11 assessable items measured on a 5-option Likert-type response scale from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (5).…”

“…The overall score ranges from 11 to 55 points, with higher scores reflecting more positive attitudes towards communication. The Spanish version of the scale has an adequate internal consistency score of 0.75 [ 37 ].…”

Effectiveness of a standardised patient simulation programme in undergraduate nursing students 6 months after implementation: A quasi‐experimental study

“…In Carbonell -Forniés, et al, 2021). It would be interesting to be able to shed light on whether the simulation programme has had no effect on this particular outcome or whether it is because the stu- Reime et al, 2016).…”

“…As suggested, this may be explained by the fact that these students already have a good attitude towards communication, which is most likely linked to previous training received during their nursing studies. In fact, it has been shown that first‐year nursing students start out with a lower attitude towards communication than those in their final year, who have already received specific communication skills training during their course (Escribano, Cabañero‐Martínez, Carbonell‐Forniés, et al, 2021). It would be interesting to be able to shed light on whether the simulation programme has had no effect on this particular outcome or whether it is because the students' attitude levels have reached a plateau.…”

Evaluation of a patient-centered communication skills training for nurses (KOMPAT): study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

“…Items on this one-dimensional scale can be answered on a Likert scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"). The Spanish version of this scale was adapted and psychometrically evaluated in a nursing sample (35). A German version of the ATMCS will be translated using the TRAPD translation protocol (31), and adapted to our target group.…”