Abstract
Background
Effective communication is important for the delivery of quality care. The Emergency
Department (ED) environment poses significant challenges to effective communication.
Objectives
The objective of this study was to determine patients' perceptions of their ED team's
communication skills.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional study in an urban, academic ED. Patients completed the
Communication Assessment Tool for Teams (CAT-T) survey upon ED exit. The CAT-T was
adapted from the psychometrically validated Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) to
measure patient perceptions of communication with a medical team. The 14 core CAT-T
items are associated with a 5-point scale (5 = excellent); results are reported as
the percent of participants who responded “excellent.” Responses were analyzed for
differences based on age, sex, race, and operational metrics (wait time, ED daily
census).
Results
There were 346 patients identified; the final sample for analysis was 226 patients
(53.5% female, 48.2% Caucasian), representing a response rate of 65.3%. The scores
on CAT-T items (reported as % “excellent”) ranged from 50.0% to 76.1%. The highest-scoring
items were “let me talk without interruptions” (76.1%), “talked in terms I could understand”
(75.2%), and “treated me with respect” (74.3%). The lowest-scoring item was “encouraged
me to ask questions” (50.0%). No differences were noted based on patient sex, race,
age, wait time, or daily census of the ED.
Conclusions
The patients in this study perceived that the ED teams were respectful and allowed
them to talk without interruptions; however, lower ratings were given for items related
to actively engaging the patient in decision-making and asking questions.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 17, 2012
Accepted:
July 1,
2012
Received in revised form:
February 20,
2012
Received:
November 7,
2011
Footnotes
This work was previously presented at the Academy Health Annual Research Meeting, Seattle, WA, June 2011, and at the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare, Chicago, IL, October 2011.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
