Assessment of Communication Skills Level among Students at Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2017

Communication is the interaction between two individuals with a specific goal. The ability to communicate correctly is one of the basic skills in social life, which leads to human development. Today, medical science education is one of the purely theoretical training that relates to the goal of acquiring human and communication skills. It should be noted that establishing the correct relationship with clients and patients has some positive effects, such as: improving vital signs, reducing pain and anxiety, and so on. Also, in case of communication impairment, it causes mistakes in diagnosis and ..., which ultimately leads to dissatisfaction of patient. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of communication skills of students in Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2017.

The current study is a cross-sectional analytical descriptive study. The statistical population is 281 students in the second half of 2017-2018 at Qom University of Medical Sciences. Data collection tools include a two-part questionnaire including demographic information and standard communication skills in verbal, auditory and feedback areas. Finally, for data analysis, SPSS software version 21 was used, and Independent T-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient were analyzed at a significance level less than 0.05.

In this study, 38.1% of the students are male, and 83.3% are single. The mean and standard deviation of the students' age and average score are 21.50 ± 3.13 years, and 16.98 ± 1.53 points. In this study, 60.5% (170 students) had good communication skills, and 38.4% (108) had moderate communication skills. Independent t-test did not show a significant difference between the mean score of communication skills and its dimensions according to the location of residence (P>0.05). But in the Pearson correlation coefficient, there is a significant correlation between the mean and the verbal dimension of communication skill (P=0.045 and r=0.143).

The mean and standard deviation of the score in the verbal dimension and auditory dimension in communication skills in terms of gender, showed a significant difference (P<0.05), and the verbal skill level for female students is better than male students. It should also be noted that, as far as possible, effective workshops were used to increase student communication skills,