Trial reportBritish journal of cancer2003
Enduring impact of communication skills training: results of a 12-month follow-up.
Trial report in British journal of cancer, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Training in communication skills for self-efficacy of health professionals: a systematic review.Human resources for health · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Communication skills training for healthcare professionals working with people who have cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- A systematic review of training programmes for recruiters to randomised controlled trials.Trials · 2015Pooled it
- The Prevalence of Compassion Fatigue and Burnout among Healthcare Professionals in Intensive Care Units: A Systematic Review.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- Does improving patient-practitioner communication improve clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular diseases? A systematic review of the evidence.Patient education and counseling · 2014Pooled it
- Communication skills training for healthcare professionals working with people who have cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Interventions for providers to promote a patient-centred approach in clinical consultations.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Communication training for health professionals who care for patients with cancer: a systematic review of training methods.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2005Pooled it
- Communication training for health professionals who care for patients with cancer: a systematic review of effectiveness.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2004Pooled it
- Development, acceptability and uptake of an on-line communication skills education program targeting challenging conversations for oncology health professionals related to identifying and responding to anxiety and depression.BMC health services research · 2022Trial
- Healthy conversation skills as an intervention to support healthy gestational weight gain: Experience and perceptions from intervention deliverers and participants.Patient education and counseling · 2019Trial
- Effect of a 2-day communication skills training on nursing and midwifery students' empathy: a randomised controlled trial.BMJ open · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Evaluation of psycho-social training for speech therapists in oncology. Impact on general communication skills and empathy. A qualitative pilot study.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2011Trial
- Insight on variables leading to burnout in cancer physicians.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2010Trial
- Trial
- Educational and Professional Development Interventions to Strengthen Empathy, Compassion, and Relational Care Among Healthcare Professionals: A Systematic Review.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Review
- Evaluation of a novel communication workshop for healthcare professionals working with metastatic breast cancer patients.Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2026Article
- Towards patient-centered healthcare: a scoping review of soft skills training in medical schools.BMC medical education · 2026Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The efficacy of a communication skills training programme was shown through a randomised trial. Oncologists (N=160) from 34 cancer centres were allocated to written feedback plus course; course alone; written feedback alone or control. Each clinician had 6 - 10 interviews with patients videotaped at baseline and 3 months postintervention. Analysis of videotapes revealed improvements in the communication skills of clinicians randomised to training (n=80) compared with others (n=80). A 12-month follow-up assessment is reported here. Robust Poisson conditional analyses of counts of changes in communication behaviours revealed no demonstrable attrition in those who had shown improvement previously, including fewer leading questions, appropriate use of focused and open-ended questions and responses to patient cues. Additional skills, not apparent at 3 months, were now evident; the estimated effect sizes corresponded to 81% fewer interruptions (P=0.001) and increased summarising of information to 38% (P=0.038). However, expressions of empathy (54%, P=0.001) declined. The overall results show that 12 - 15 months postintervention, clinicians had integrated key communication skills into clinical practice and were applying others. This is the first RCT to show an enduring effect of communication skills training with transfer into the clinic.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.