Patient-Centered Communication (PCC) scale: Psychometric analysis and validation of a health survey measure

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 17; no. 12; p. e0279725
• Main Authors: Moser, Richard P, Trivedi, Neha, Murray, Ashley, Jensen, Roxanne E, Willis, Gordon, Blake, Kelly D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 30.12.2022; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety; Biology and Life Sciences; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Chronic illnesses; Communication; Decision making; Ethnicity; Evaluation; Factor analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Females; Gender; Health care; Health Care Surveys; Health surveys; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Medical care; Medical screening; Medicine and Health Sciences; Morbidity; Patient-Centered Care; Patients; Physical Sciences; Population; Population studies; Psychometrics; Quality management; Quantitative psychology; Reliability analysis; Reliability aspects; Reproducibility of Results; Research and Analysis Methods; Response rates; Social interactions; Social Sciences; Social support; Sociodemographics; Surveys; United States; Validation studies; Validity; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279725

Patient-centered communication (PCC) is one important component of patient-centered care and seen as a goal for most clinical encounters. Previous research has shown that higher PCC is related to an increase in healthy behaviors and less morbidity, among other outcomes. Given its importance, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) commissioned a monograph in 2007 to synthesize the existing literature on PCC and determine measurement objectives and strategies for measuring this construct, with a particular focus on cancer survivors. Based on this effort, a seven-item PCC scale was included on the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a probability-based survey of the US adult population. This study used HINTS data collected in 2018 to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PCC scale for the general US adult population including measures of reliability and validity. Through an exploratory factor analysis, the seven-item PCC scale was shown to be unidimensional with good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .92). A confirmatory factor analysis verified the factor structure. Other construct validity metrics included known groups and discriminant validity. Known group comparisons were conducted for several sociodemographic factors and health self-efficacy confirming a priori assumptions. Discriminant validity tests with measures of social support and anxiety/depression showed relatively weak associations. The psychometric properties of this scale demonstrate its scientific utility for both surveillance research and other smaller-scale studies. Given its association with many health outcomes, it can also be used to better understand the dynamics in a clinical encounter.