Slicing it thin: New methods for brief sampling analysis using RIAS-coded medical dialogue

ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between one-minute slices and full-session interaction and the predictive validity of the slices to ratings of affect and rapport.MethodsThird-year medical students (n = 253) were videotaped during an OSCE. All interaction was coded using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) and samples were drawn at minutes 1, 5, and 9 and extracted from the coded database. The slices were related in multivariate analysis to full-session interaction, corrected for slice content, and correlated with affect ratings of participants and independently rated judgments of rapport.ResultsOne-minute slices explained 33% of full-session variance in student interaction and 30% of variance in standardized patient interaction. Slices were significantly correlated with affective ratings of participants and independent judgments of rapport in a similar pattern as full-session interaction analysis.ConclusionsOne-minute slices of interaction can provide a meaningful degree of insight into OSCE session communication with both concurrent and predictive validity to ratings of session affect and rapport.Practice implicationsEvidence of concurrent and predictive validity further supports use of this approach as a research tool that provides an efficient means of analyzing processes of care, examining variation in communication throughout a visit and predicting visit outcomes.