Communication Apprehension among Malaysian Pharmacy Students: A Pilot Study

Abstract:

We aim to determine levels of communication apprehension (CA) among undergraduate pharmacy students. We used Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) questionnaire among first year of undergraduate pharmacy students of Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2008/2009 academic session. Data analysis was done by using Statistical analysis software (SPSS 12®) and Excel 2003. One hundred and nineteen students (N=119; response rate = 91.5%) returned the completed PRCA questionnaires. Out of this, 72 (60.5%) were female and 47 (39.5%) were male students. The average age was 19.5 2.87 years (range: 18 to 21 years). Findings indicate that CA exists among the undergraduate pharmacy students in USM with an average overall score of 71.03 ±12.2. One-fourth respondents (23.5%) had high CA. Study provides empirical evidence for the existence of CA among every third undergraduate pharmacy students.

KEYWORDS: Communication apprehension, Pharmacy student, PRCA score, Pharmacy practice.