Abstract
Background
Relational aspects of primary care are important, but we have no standard measure for assessment. The “working alliance” incorporates elements of the therapeutic relationship, shared decision making, goal setting, and communication skills. The Working Alliance Inventory (short form) (WAI-SF) has been used in adult psychology and a high score on the survey is associated with improved outcomes for clients.
Objective
To adapt the WAI-SF for use between general practitioners (GPs) and patients and to test its concurrent validity with measures of shared decision making and the doctor-patient relationship, and discriminant validity with measures of social desirability.
Methods
Two rounds of online survey feedback from 55 GPs and 47 patients were used to adapt the WAI-SF – the WAI-GP. The tool was then completed by 142 patients in waiting rooms after seeing their GP, and by 16 GPs at the end of their session. Concurrent validity with measures of shared decision making and patient-doctor depth of relationship was determined using Spearman Rho correlations. Patients also completed two social desirability surveys and discriminant validity with WAI-GP was assessed.
Results
Following feedback, the survey was re-worded to remove phrases that were perceived as judgmental or irrelevant. The patient measure of the WAI-GP was strongly correlated with Dyadic OPTION (rho = 0.705, p =0.0001); and Patient-doctor Depth of Relationship scale (rho = 0.591, p 0.0001); and not with measures of social desirability.
Conclusion
The psychometric properties of the WAI-GP supports its use for measuring GP-patient alliance. Possibilities for use include assessing the influence of therapeutic alliance on the effectiveness of interventions.
Relational aspects of primary care are important, but we have no standard measure for assessment. The “working alliance” incorporates elements of the therapeutic relationship, shared decision making, goal setting, and communication skills. The Working Alliance Inventory (short form) (WAI-SF) has been used in adult psychology and a high score on the survey is associated with improved outcomes for clients.
Objective
To adapt the WAI-SF for use between general practitioners (GPs) and patients and to test its concurrent validity with measures of shared decision making and the doctor-patient relationship, and discriminant validity with measures of social desirability.
Methods
Two rounds of online survey feedback from 55 GPs and 47 patients were used to adapt the WAI-SF – the WAI-GP. The tool was then completed by 142 patients in waiting rooms after seeing their GP, and by 16 GPs at the end of their session. Concurrent validity with measures of shared decision making and patient-doctor depth of relationship was determined using Spearman Rho correlations. Patients also completed two social desirability surveys and discriminant validity with WAI-GP was assessed.
Results
Following feedback, the survey was re-worded to remove phrases that were perceived as judgmental or irrelevant. The patient measure of the WAI-GP was strongly correlated with Dyadic OPTION (rho = 0.705, p =0.0001); and Patient-doctor Depth of Relationship scale (rho = 0.591, p 0.0001); and not with measures of social desirability.
Conclusion
The psychometric properties of the WAI-GP supports its use for measuring GP-patient alliance. Possibilities for use include assessing the influence of therapeutic alliance on the effectiveness of interventions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | cmy113 |
| Pages (from-to) | 516-522 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Family Practice |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 26 Nov 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 31 Jul 2019 |
Keywords
- General practice
- physician-patient relations
- primary health care
- quality of care
- quantitative evaluation
- survey methods