Evaluation of Dental Communication Skills from Patient and Clinical Instructors Perspective Approaches

Abstract

Background: Communication skills of dentists have been demonstrated to be part of the good dental practice. Also, communication skills of clinicians are very crucial in providing better health outcomes for patients. Successful interaction and communication with patients is as vital for dentists as it is for physicians.  The study aims: To assess undergraduate dental students' communication skills in relation to their demographics and clinical setting using a three-perspective approach; the student, the patient and the clinical instructor perspective. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using validated modified- communication tools; Patient Communication Assessment Instruments (PCAI), Student Communication Assessment Instruments (SCAI) and Clinical Communication Assessment Instruments (CCAI) which included four communication domains. One hundred and seventy-six undergraduate clinical year students were recruited in this study whereby each of them was assessed by a clinical instructor and a randomly selected patient in two dental clinics in Jeddah, KSA. Results: Comparing the three perspectives, PCAI yielded the highest scores across all domains, followed by SCAI and CCAI (p < .001). SCAI exhibited a better score in Year 5 compared to Year 3 and Year 4 (p = .027). The male students perceived they performed better than females in all domains (p < .05). Patients rated the students higher in the first clinic as compared to the second clinic for the team interaction domain. Conclusion: There was an upward pattern of the communication skills score rated from the clinical instructor perspective to the student and patient perspectives. The use of PCAI, SCAI and CCAI collectively gave a complementary view of students' communication performance in all the domains assessed.