Development of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to evaluate the diagnosis announcement of chronic neurological disease by residents in neurology.

Background: There is little consensus on how to make a diagnosis announcement of severe chronic disease in neurology. Other medical specialties, such as oncology, have developed assessment methods similar to the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to address this issue. Here we report the implementation of an OSCE focused on the diagnosis announcement of chronic disease in neurology by residents.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility and validity in routine practice of an OSCE combined with a theoretical course focused on diagnosis announcement in neurology.

Method: Eighteen neurology residents were prospectively included between 2019 and 2022. First, they answered a questionnaire on their previous level of training in diagnosis announcement. Second, in a practical session with a simulated patient, they made a 15-min diagnosis announcement and then had 5mins of immediate feedback with an expert observer, present in the room. The OSCE consisted of 4 different stations, with standardized scenarios dedicated to the announcement of multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Third, in a theory session, expert observers covered the essential theoretical points. All residents and expert observers completed an evaluation of the "practical session" and the "theory session".

Results: Residents estimated their previous level of diagnosis announcement training at 3.1/5. The most feared announcements were AD and ALS. The "practical session" was rated at a mean of 4.1/5 by the residents and 4.8/5 by the expert observers, and the "theory session" at a mean of 4.7/5 by the residents and 5/5 by the expert observers. After the OSCEs, 11 residents felt more confident about making an announcement.

Conclusion: This study has shown a benefit of using an OSCE to learn how to make a diagnosis announcement of severe chronic disease in neurology. OSCEs could be used in many departments in routine practice and seem adapted to residents.