Using the consultation-based reassurance questionnaire to assess reassurance skills among physiotherapy students:...

There is a robust body of evidence suggesting that communication skills during consultations are associated with patient satisfaction and adherence. Training practitioners to improve communication and reassurance delivery is therefore desirable. The Consultation-Based Reassurance Questionnaire (CRQ) for people presenting with back pain has not been tested as a tool to examine the reliability and responsiveness of communication training for practitioners.

To translate and examine the reliability of the CRQ and to explore its ability to detect change (responsiveness) before and after a single session of training in communication skills.

Thirty-five simulated consultations were recorded. 36 second-year physiotherapy students took part, either as a simulated patient or a simulated physiotherapist. All videotape simulations were rated independently by two trained observers, using the CRQ.

Correlations indicate that the two raters were significantly and highly correlated (r = 0.9, 95% CI 0.797-0.951). The responsiveness statistics were in the moderate range for the total CRQ score, with moderate responsiveness range for data-gathering and relationship-building, and acceptable responsiveness for generic and cognitive reassurance.

The CRQ Scale shows good reliability and acceptable levels of responsiveness to detect change before and after training in communication skills in physiotherapy students. The scale requires testing in real-life settings to establish better responsiveness.