Enhancement of the physician-patient relationship in inpatient care through a communication and interaction training for assistant and senior physicians in internal medicine

A randomised controlled trial to enhance the physician-patient relationship in inpatient care by a communication training and supervision

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN60811508

Enrollment

742

Registered

2008-11-20

Start date

2008-10-30

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2015-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Physician-patient communication Not Applicable Communication in healthcare

Interventions

Intervention group: Three-day communication and interaction skills training including role play with standardised patients and supervised ward rounds in between, and a final evaluation with an MSE (m

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Patients: 1. Given consent 2. Receiving in-patient treatment at the Hospital SLK Heilbronn (Germany) 3. Sufficient German language skills 4. Sufficient literacy 5. Aged from 30 - 85 years, either sex Physicians: 1. Given consent 2. Employed by the Hospital SLK Heilbronn (Germany) 3. Currently working shifts in the Department of Internal Medicine 4. Aged from 26 - 50 years, either sex

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Patients or physicians declined consent.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Patient satisfaction measured by a modified version of the Picker Questionnaire before (t1) and after (t3) the intervention group is trained. Timepoints: t1: two months before the training t2: intervention (training period, communication and interaction training) t3: two months after the training	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Physicians: Communication and interaction skills: 1. Measured by self-rating before (t1) and after training (t3) 2. Measured by performance in a multi-station exercise (MSE) directly after training (t2) 3. Measured by video analysis using the Roter Interaction Process Analysis System (RIAS), before (t1) and after training (t3) Patients: Adherence measured through a 4-item assessment by general practitioners (GP) providing follow-up care using the Visual Analogue Scale (0 = not at all adhered to 10 = totally adhered) (t3). Timepoints: t1: two months before the training t2: intervention (training period, communication and interaction training) t3: two months after the training	—

Measure

Time frame

Physicians: Communication and interaction skills: 1. Measured by self-rating before (t1) and after training (t3) 2. Measured by performance in a multi-station exercise (MSE) directly after training (t2) 3. Measured by video analysis using the Roter Interaction Process Analysis System (RIAS), before (t1) and after training (t3) Patients: Adherence measured through a 4-item assessment by general practitioners (GP) providing follow-up care using the Visual Analogue Scale (0 = not at all adhered to 10 = totally adhered) (t3). Timepoints: t1: two months before the training t2: intervention (training period, communication and interaction training) t3: two months after the training

—

Countries

Germany

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026