1 Class Room to Real Life: Medical Students Perception and Barriers regarding Breaking Bad News

Abstract : The objective of this study was to assess the perception, skills and comfort level of medical students in clinical years regarding breaking bad news and perceived attainment of objectives in communication skills module. This is a survey using quasi-experimental (pre- /post-intervention) study design. All students in the final year at OMC, consented to participate were included in the study. Questionnaires were provided prior and post-workshop. The commonly used 6-point SPIKES protocol for breaking bad news was discussed. Questionnaire was mainly comprised of demographic details, pre and post ques¬tions, any previous training in communication skills, whether they had observed bad news being broken by a senior, how stressful they thought BBN was to them and SPIKES protocol, confidence levels among participants in communicating bad new and barriers of breaking bad news. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20.v. Data were expressed in frequencies, mean and percent¬ages, t test and man Whitney U test were used to evaluate the significant differences between pre and post responses. A total of 70 medical students were participated in the study in which 60 (85.7%) were female participants. Significant statistical difference was observed between pre and post response of participants involving communicating bad news (p - 0.025). Similarly, there was a significant difference in the responses of participants aged <25 and ≥ 25 years responses regarding communicating bad news (p < 0.001). This study results revealed that at pre workshop, participants had statistically significantly (p-0.006, 95% CI -15.08-2.63) low pre-workshop score compared to post-workshop responses. Similarly, statistical difference was observed between age > 25 and <25 years old participants (p-0.027, 95% CI -1.19-19.13). No significant difference was found between male and female participant’s responses (p-0. 927, 95% CI -9.03-8.22).

Keyword : Medical students, breaking bad news, Perception and Barriers, Oman