Table 3 Mean number of communication skills (CS) identified by supervisors during direct observation of videotaped clinical encounters
From: Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study
Ability to identify residents’ good and poor CS | Intervention group (Inpatient n = 16; outpatient n = 12) | Control group (Inpatient n = 12; outpatient n = 8) |  |  |  | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Â | Pre | Post | Â | Pre | Post | Â | Â | Â | Â |
| Â | Â | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Delta | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Delta | Delta difference | p | Effect size |
INPATIENT SETTING | To explain a procedure | |||||||||
  No. of good CS | 2.38 (1.26) | 2.19 (1.11) | -0.19 (1.38) | 2.25 (0.97) | 2.17 (1.11) | -0.08 (1.24) | -0.10 | 0.8380 | -0.08 | |
  No. of poor CS | 4.56 (1.59) | 3.94 (1.29) | -0.63 (2.28) | 4.00 (1.04) | 4.75 (1.60) | 0.75 (1.60) | -1.38 | 0.0862 | -0.86 | |
To break bad news | ||||||||||
  No. of good CS | 3.25 (1.06) | 4.31 (1.25) | 1.06 (1.29) | 4.00 (1.41) | 4.67 (1.30) | 0.67 (1.92) | 0.40 | 0.5198 | 0.21 | |
  No. of poor CS | 4.38 (1.75) | 3.75 (1.61) | -0.63 (1.89) | 4.25 (1.42) | 4.50 (1.93) | 0.25 (1.91) | -0.88 | 0.2390 | -0.46 | |
To conduct a family discussion | ||||||||||
  No. of good CS | 2.94 (1.48) | 2.38 (0.96) | -0.56 (1.97) | 3.42 (1.44) | 3.67 (1.56) | 0.25 (1.96) | -0.81 | 0.2884 | -0.41 | |
  No. of poor CS | 4.25 (1.81) | 4.50 (1.79) | 0.25 (2.65) | 3.58 (1.00) | 3.58 (1.83) | 0.00 (1.91) | 0.25 | 0.7838 | 0.13 | |
OUTPATIENT SETTING | To explain a diagnosis | |||||||||
  No. of good CS | 1.33 (1.23) | 3.00 (1.65) | 1.67 (2.02) | 2.75 (1.58) | 3.14 (0.90 | 0.14 (1.95) | 1.52 | 0.1263 | 0.78 | |
  No. of poor CS | 3.92 (2.50) | 3.41 (2.27) | -0.50 (3.73) | 3.50 (2.27) | 1.43 (0.98) | -2.00 (3.00) | 1.50 | 0.3787 | 0.50 | |
To manage time | ||||||||||
  No. of good CS | 2.25 (1.42) | 3.25 (1.48) | 1.00 (1.71) | 3.75 (1.67) | 3.14 (2.12) | -0.86 (1.21) | 1.86 | 0.0221 | 1.53 | |
  No. of poor CS | 2.33 (1.37) | 3.08 (1.16) | 0.75 (1.86) | 1.88 (1.46) | 2.14 (1.07) | 0.57 (0.98) | 0.18 | 0.8182 | 0.18 | |
To manage a difficult relationship | ||||||||||
  No. of good CS | 1.50 (1.00) | 2.17 (1.47) | 0.67 (1.61) | 1.75 (1.39) | 3.14 (1.95) | 1.43 (2.76) | -0.76 | 0.4542 | -0.28 | |
  No. of poor CS | 3.92 (1.68) | 4.25 (1.71) | 0.33 (2.23) | 3.63 (1.41) | 2.43 (0.98) | -1.00 (2.16) | 1.33 | 0.2207 | 0.62 | |