학술논문

Do medical students like communication? Validation of the German CSAS (Communication Skills Attitude Scale)
Document Type
article
Source
GMS Zeitschrift für Medizinische Ausbildung, Vol 32, Iss 1, p Doc11 (2015)
Subject
communication
medical education
undergraduate
attitude of health personnel
Special aspects of education
LC8-6691
Medicine (General)
R5-920
Language
German
English
ISSN
1860-3572
Abstract
Objectives: Attitudes towards communication skills of medical undergraduates can be gathered using the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS). We aimed to develop a German version of the CSAS (CSAS-G) in order to explore attitudes towards communication skills in a German cohort. Additionally the potential influence of demographic factors was examined.Methods: We realized the CSAS-G and conducted a survey with 529 participants from 3 different years of study. We then carried out an explorative as well as confirmatory factor analysis and compared the attitudinal scores. Multiple regression analysis was performed.Results: The confirmatory analysis confirmed the two-subscale system revealed by the explorative factor analysis. Students indicate low levels of negative attitudes and moderate levels of positive attitudes. Attitudinal scores differ significantly in relation to gender.Conclusion: The CSAS-G can be used in German cohorts to evaluate attitudes towards communication skills. Medical students in our study show basically a positive approach. Further investigation is necessary to explore and understand attitudes towards communication skills of German medical students.