Psychometric properties of the Health Professionals Communication Skills Scale (HP-CSS)

One of the main features of the relationship between health professionals and their patients is that their effects can be measured. To do this, we need instruments that are well built and that have proven their validity and reliability empirically and experimentally. The objective of this study is to analyse the psychometric properties of the Health Professionals Communication Skills Scale (HP-CSS), which evaluates the communication skills that health professionals use to relate to their patients. The sample consisted of 410 health professionals in the region of Murcia, Spain, and 517 in the province of Alicante, Spain. We obtained descriptive statistics and discrimination indices of the items, the internal structure of the scale using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the internal consistency, the temporal stability, and the external evidence of validity. The results indicate that the HP-CSS is a valid and reliable instrument and is also useful for the purpose and context in which it will be used.