Objective. To determine the levels of communication apprehension (CA) experienced by health students and compare them according to sex, age range, course, and academic year. Method. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a Brazilian university from December 2019 to May 2020 with dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, and nursing students, recruited by convenience sampling. The students were invited to answer a survey consisting of two sections: general characteristic and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24). Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted. Results. A total of 644 health students answered the survey, of whom 25.5% were classified as having high communication apprehension. Male participants had significantly lower PRCA-24 scores than females. No significant differences were found between PRCA-24 scores by age category or academic year. Medical students had significantly lower mean PRCA-24 scores than pharmacy students. Conclusion.The prevalence of high CA was high and apparently remained stable over time. The highest scores for CA were obtained by women and pharmacy students. Health educators should consider the effects of communication apprehension and use adequate interventions during communication skills training.

Introduction Communication apprehension (CA) refers to an individual’s level of fear or anxiety toward either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons. The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) is the most widely used measure of CA, even among healthcare students. Objective This study aimed to undertake a cross-cultural adaptation of this scale, translate it into Brazilian Portuguese, and examine its psychometric properties among healthcare students. Methods The translation and cross-cultural adaptation procedures were undertaken with the objective of establishing compatibility between the original and translated scales. The content validity of the scale was established based on the feedback of a multidisciplinary expert committee. Its psychometric properties were evaluated using a convenience sample of 616 healthcare students. Its construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Its internal consistency was examined by computing Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega coefficients. Its criterion validity was examined against the Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale (ICCS). Results The adapted scale demonstrated acceptable content validity. EFA showed that it was undergirded by one dimension, and this observation was confirmed by the results of CFA. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency. Its convergent validity was examined by conducting correlation analysis, and scores on the adapted PRCA-24 were negatively correlated with scores on the ICCS. Conclusion The Brazilian version of the PRCA-24 has satisfactory psychometric properties and is, therefore, suitable for use with Brazilian healthcare students. It can be used to assess their communication needs for the purpose of designing tailored training programs.

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