Patient Perspectives in Optometry Clinical Exams.

Area of Science:

• Optometry Education
• Clinical Communication Skills Assessment
• Patient-Centred Care (PCC)

Background:

• Effective assessment of patient-centred care (PCC) is crucial for clinical communication training.
• This study examines the link between Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) scores and simulated patient (SP) feedback in optometry.
• It identifies PCC aspects correlating with high performance and discrepancies in evaluations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between OSCE scores and SP questionnaire responses in optometry students.
• To identify specific PCC elements that correlate with examiner-assessed high performance.
• To highlight differences between SP and examiner evaluations of student communication competence.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of SP questionnaires and communication-focused OSCE performance scores from 58 optometry students.
• Spearman's rank correlations were used to assess associations between SP-rated elements and OSCE scores.
• SP-rated elements included trust, opportunities to ask questions, concerns addressed, willingness to return, and referral likelihood.

Main Results:

• Trust, willingness to return, and referral likelihood showed strong positive correlations with OSCE performance.
• Willingness to return and referral likelihood had the strongest correlations with OSCE scores.
• The importance of asking questions varied by OSCE station type, being more relevant in counselling than case history.

Conclusions:

• Global assessments may capture patient perceptions of communication competence better than micro-skills.
• The relevance of specific communication skills, like inviting questions, varies across different clinical contexts.
• Aligning training and evaluation with SP priorities (e.g., addressing concerns, fostering trust) can improve patient satisfaction and assessment validity.