Communication in Dental Settings Scale (CDSS): Preliminary development of a measure to assess communication in dental settings

Objectives. To examine the inter-rarer reliability of a newly developed measure of the communication process in dental settings. To assess the relationship between the measure of communication process and patient satisfaction with the consultation. Design. An observation-based assessment scale for dentist-patient consultations was developed, based upon a theoretical model of dentist-patient communication. Behavioural definitions for each item were developed on the basis of observations of five video-recorded consultations. Inter-rater reliability for the scale was then assessed by observation of 34 student dentist-patient consultations. Validity of the scale was assessed by examining the correlation between the scale and other measures of the dentist-patient consultation and with patient satisfaction. Results. All items on the scale showed acceptable levels of inter-rater reliability. The scale correlates well with other measures of communication and with patient satisfaction with the interview Conclusions. The CDSS proved to be a reliable and valid measure for the assessment of communication processes in the limited sample studied. Further research is required to assess its applicability in a broader range of settings.