A CODING SYSTEM FOR DOCTOR-PATIENT COMMUNICATION IN ONCOLOGICAL CONSULTATIONS (ONCODE)

The article describes an emic-oriented system for coding doctor-patient communication in oncological consultations (ONCode). The system aims to capture patient-centered communication practices, with particular attention to ethnically discordant interactions. ONCode is squarely focused on interactional aspects, assessed through seven dimensions. Video consultations with three oncologists and 19 patients (10 native Italians and nine non-native Italians) were coded with ONCode by two coders and with VR-CoDES by a different coder. Inter-rater reliability was tested by using ICC. Group differences (native vs. non-native) were assessed with linear mixed model analyses. This pilot study showed that the ONCode is fairly reliable, sensitive to patients' characteristics and contextual variables, and does not overlap with an established coding system such as the VR-CoDES. Moreover, the system enabled the identification of differences in communication in consultations with native and non-native patients.