Self-Assessment of Socio-Communicative Skills in Dental Simulation: Key Criteria for Professional Training: Scoping Review

Abstract

Dental education requires both technical and socio-communicative skills, which are essential for effective and empathetic professional practice. To develop these skills, the use of simulation in mirrored rooms and standardized patients is an effective and innovative tool. However, students' perceptions through self-assessments are crucial for providing feedback and improving these competencies. This study aims to identify key criteria for developing a self-assessment instrument to measure the perception of socio-communicative skills in simulated scenarios, using a broad-scope review approach.

We formulated the research question following the PCC format: "What are the key criteria for measuring the perception of socio-communicative skills through self-assessment in dental simulations?" A standardized search strategy was designed for PubMed and Scopus. The selected articles included self-assessments related to socio-communicative skills in undergraduate and postgraduate health sciences programs, with no publication year restrictions. Articles not related to socio-communicative skills or lacking self-assessment tools were excluded. A total of 1,306 articles were analyzed, of which 16 relevant ones were selected, following the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines.

The results showed that 100% of the selected articles addressed self-assessments of socio-communicative skills. The criteria were grouped into five main areas: verbal communication, paralinguistic communication, non-verbal communication, goal setting, and self-perception questions. These five identified areas will enable a comprehensive and structured evaluation of students' skills in simulated contexts.