Communication Skills of Resident Physicians in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia

Background: Effective communication improves patient-physician relationship and the overall quality of care. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate communication skills of resident physicians at different health care facilities in Abha, Saudi Arabia. Methods: : A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study on a total of 210 resident doctors. Results: : The communication skills scores were nearly normally distributed with a mean score of 113.30 ± 32.25.In comparing the skills by various socio-demographic factors, it was noted that gender and age played a significant role in specific communication skills. There was significant difference in mean scores of younger and older physicians in domains of interpretation and clarification (p < 0.001), asking (p < 0.001), feedback (p < 0.01), punishment and reward skills (p < 0.001). In asking skills, there was significant difference in mean scores of male and females (p < 0.001). Residents in the specialty of Internal Medicine had significantly higher scores than other specialties (CI 95% = 107.74–127.07; p < 0.001). Fifth-year residents had significantly higher scores than those of other levels (CI 95% =123.94-142.05; p < 0.001). Residents with more than one year of experience after the basic degree had significantly higher scores than residents with lesser experience (CI 95% = 123.76–137.68; p < 0.001). Residents who had taken training in communication skills had higher scores than those who had no prior training (CI 95% = 112.78-124.48; p = 0.07). Conclusion: The resident physicians are lacking in communication skills . Results of this study point towards a lingering need to focus on training of physicians in effective communication and efforts should be made to include it as a core competency in medical curriculum.