COMMUNICATION SKILLS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS- A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
Abstract
Background: Communication skills are abilities you use when giving and receiving different kinds of information. Teaching communication skills as a part of the dentistry curriculum leads to an increase in the dentist`s ability to understand the patients needs. Several studies have evaluated the importance of communication skills training of the health care members and the effectiveness of teaching these skills to dental students.
Aim: To create awareness on the importance of communication skills among dental students .
Materials and methods: A survey was conducted among dental students on communication skills among dental students. Approval was obtained from the institutional review to conduct an online survey. The survey was conducted among 100 dental students. A self administered questionnaire was prepared and distributed among dental students through online based survey forms (google forms). The questionnaire contained questions on demographic details also. Method of sampling that is done is simple random sampling . The responses were collected and tabulated in the excel sheet and analysed. Data entered in SPSS software version 23 and the results are represented in the form of a bar graph .
Result: Among dental students females are more aware of communication skills than males.The bar graph shows the association between gender and learning communication skills which will help dental students to respect patients.Chi square analysis was done and the P value was 0.043 which is statistically in-significant. The bar graph depicts the association between gender and comparison of good communication skills between male and female dental students.Chi square analysis was done and its P value is 0.04 which is statistically significant.
Conclusion: Dental students had a moderate level of communication skills. With regards to the importance of communication skills, these skills should be considered when developing the curriculum content and assessed as a part of evaluation in clinical skills.
