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

ISRCTN	ISRCTN60811508
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN60811508
Protocol serial number	N/A
Sponsor	German Health Insurance Company AOK (Bundesgeschäftsstelle AOK Krankenkasse) (Germany)
Funder	German Health Insurance Company AOK (Bundesgeschäftsstelle AOK Krankenkasse) (Germany)

Submission date: 29/10/2008
Registration date: 20/11/2008
Last edited: 20/11/2008

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Other

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Not provided at time of registration

Contact information

Dr Jana Juenger
Scientific

Innere Medizin II
Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 410
Heidelberg
69120
Germany

Phone	+48 (0)6221 563 8872
Email	jana.juenger@med.uni-heidelberg.de

Study information

Primary study design	Interventional
Study design	Randomised controlled trial (single centred, single blinded)
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study type	Participant information sheet
Scientific title	A randomised controlled trial to enhance the physician-patient relationship in inpatient care by a communication training and supervision
Study acronym	APKIT
Study objectives	1. Patient satisfaction can be enhanced by systematic communication training for physicians: patient satisfaction within the intervention group is higher after the physicians have completed their training than before the training. Patient satisfaction within the control group will not differ between pre- and post-evaluation. 2. The subjective competence assessment of communication skills of the physicians in the intervention group increases significantly after having completed the communication training 3. The improvement of communication and interaction skills of the intervention group can be shown by performance in a multi-station exercise (MSE) 4. The improvement of communication skills of the intervention group can also be shown in daily physician-patient interaction (through video analysis) 5. The communication training influences patient adherence after discharge: patients seen by physicians of the intervention group show higher adherence levels after the physicians have been trained than before
Ethics approval(s)	The local medical ethics committee (Landesarztekammer Baden-Wurttemberg [Germany] Körperschaft des Offentlichen Rechts Ethik-kommission) granted approval on the 27th August 2008 (ref: 2008-086-f)
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Physician-patient communication
Intervention	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 (multi-station exercise). Control group: Waiting-list control group receiving the same literature as the intervention group. Out of ethical reasons the control group will be given the same intervention after data acquisition is completed. Joint/Scientific Sponsor Details: SLK Hospital Heilbronn (Germany) c/o Dr Urs Riemann Am Gesundbrunnen 20 74078 Heilbronn Germany Website: http://www.slk-kliniken.de/Klinikum-am-Gesundbrunnen.701.0.html University Hospital Heidelberg (Germany) c/o Dr Jobst-Hendrik Schultz MME Bern Im Neuenheimer Feld 410 69120 Heidelberg Germany Website: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Klinik-fuer-Psychosomatische-und-Allgemeine-Klinische-Medizin.87.0.html Joint/Scientific Contact Details: Professor Wolf Langewitz Universitätsspital Basel Psychosomatik Hebelstr.2 CH-4031 Basel Switzerland
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure(s)	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
Key secondary outcome measure(s)	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
Completion date	30/03/2009

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Patient
Age group	Adult
Sex	All
Target sample size at registration	742
Key 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
Key exclusion criteria	Patients or physicians declined consent.
Date of first enrolment	30/10/2008
Date of final enrolment	30/03/2009

Locations

Countries of recruitment

Germany

Study participating centre

Innere Medizin II

Heidelberg
69120
Germany

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Not provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Participant information sheet	Participant information sheet	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes