Communication skills Among Ardabil Medical University Students and its Association with Demographic Characteristics

Background: Communication Skills (CS) are one of the elements of generic skills that are essential among university students. Communication skills are referred to hearing and speech relation between people and its feedback. Medical students as the main members of the medical personal need to acquire communication skills in order to have communicate effectively and purposefully with patients . The weakness of communication between the medical staff can lead to medical mistakes and reduce the patient’s quality of care. So, the aim of this study was to determine the level of Communication skills Among Ardabil Medical University Students and its Association with Demographic Characteristics. Methods: This descriptive–analytical study was conducted on 250 medical students who selected randomly of Ardabil medical university students in 2018. The data collection tool was a questionnaire included demographic data and interpersonal communication skills test (34 items) with a range of 34-170. Data analysis was done using statistical methods in SPSS version 21. Results: Of all students, 62.3% were girls and the rest were boys. The average age of students was 23.7 ± 2.3 years. Of students 54.7% had moderate communication skills and the others had high levels of communication skills. The average score of student communication skills was 98 ± 14 and there was a significant relationship between gender and communication skill levels. Of students, 36.7% also had a history of participation in individual skills workshops . Conclusion: The results indicated that students' communication skills were in moderate and girl students had higher level of communication skills than boys.