Development and validation of the Patient–Healthcare Provider Communication Scale: Chinese version

Our objective was to construct the Patient–Healthcare Provider Communication Scale (P–HCS) in Chinese. An initial sample of 494 healthcare students and providers in Taiwan participated in the scale development stage, and another sample of 150 participants was then used to examine the test–retest reliability and concurrent validity of the P–HCS. We conducted exploratory factor analysis and derived 23 items across 4 factors: perception of trust and receptivity, patient-centered information giving, rapport building, and facilitation of patient involvement. Significant correlations between the P–HCS and the Provider-Patient Relationship Questionnaire also provided evidence of our scale’s concurrent validity. The Cronbach’s α and test–retest reliability coefficients for the entire scale and subscales ranged from .72 to .93, and from .80 to .90, respectively. Thus, the P–HCS can be considered a reliable and valid instrument to measure patient–healthcare provider communication in the Chinese context.