TY - JOUR
T1 - Examination of standardized patient performance
T2 - Accuracy and consistency of six standardized patients over time
AU - Erby, Lori A.H.
AU - Roter, Debra L.
AU - Biesecker, Barbara B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grant 1R01HG002688-01A1 , Genetic Counseling Processes and Analogue Client Outcomes, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the NIH . This study was performed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Dr. Erby's doctoral dissertation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The authors thank Rita Johnson for her transcription services, Erin McDonald for assistance in transcript coding, Mary Catherine Beach, Peter Zandi, and Ada Hamosh for their early insights, and the anonymous reviewers whose suggestions have considerably improved our manuscript. We would also like to thank the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health biostatistics consulting service for their helpful insights on the statistical modeling in this most recent version of the manuscript.
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - Objective: To explore the accuracy and consistency of standardized patient (SP) performance in the context of routine genetic counseling, focusing on elements beyond scripted case items including general communication style and affective demeanor. Methods: One hundred seventy-seven genetic counselors were randomly assigned to counsel one of six SPs. Videotapes and transcripts of the sessions were analyzed to assess consistency of performance across four dimensions. Results: Accuracy of script item presentation was high; 91% and 89% in the prenatal and cancer cases. However, there were statistically significant differences among SPs in the accuracy of presentation, general communication style, and some aspects of affective presentation. All SPs were rated as presenting with similarly high levels of realism. SP performance over time was generally consistent, with some small but statistically significant differences. Conclusion and practice implications: These findings demonstrate that well-trained SPs can not only perform the factual elements of a case with high degrees of accuracy and realism; but they can also maintain sufficient levels of uniformity in general communication style and affective demeanor over time to support their use in even the demanding context of genetic counseling. Results indicate a need for an additional focus in training on consistency between different SPs.
AB - Objective: To explore the accuracy and consistency of standardized patient (SP) performance in the context of routine genetic counseling, focusing on elements beyond scripted case items including general communication style and affective demeanor. Methods: One hundred seventy-seven genetic counselors were randomly assigned to counsel one of six SPs. Videotapes and transcripts of the sessions were analyzed to assess consistency of performance across four dimensions. Results: Accuracy of script item presentation was high; 91% and 89% in the prenatal and cancer cases. However, there were statistically significant differences among SPs in the accuracy of presentation, general communication style, and some aspects of affective presentation. All SPs were rated as presenting with similarly high levels of realism. SP performance over time was generally consistent, with some small but statistically significant differences. Conclusion and practice implications: These findings demonstrate that well-trained SPs can not only perform the factual elements of a case with high degrees of accuracy and realism; but they can also maintain sufficient levels of uniformity in general communication style and affective demeanor over time to support their use in even the demanding context of genetic counseling. Results indicate a need for an additional focus in training on consistency between different SPs.
KW - Accuracy
KW - Consistency
KW - Genetic counseling
KW - Provider-patient communication
KW - Standardized patient
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pec.2010.10.005
DO - 10.1016/j.pec.2010.10.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 21094590
AN - SCOPUS:80053955421
SN - 0738-3991
VL - 85
SP - 194
EP - 200
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
IS - 2
ER -