Relationship between Communication Skills and General Health in Nursing Students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background and Objective: Communication skills are one of the factors that may affect the general health of the students. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between communication skills and general health of nursing students. Instruments and Methods: This analytical-descriptive cross sectional study was carried on 320 undergraduate nursing students in Hamadan University in 2017. The students were selected by stratified random sampling method. The data gathering tools were Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Jerabek's communication skills, which were completed by the students through self-administration method. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Spearman correlation coefficient, multiple linear regression model and SPSS 16 software were used. Results: Most of the students (75%) had a weak general health with a mean score of 29.71±8.68. There was a negative correlation between communication skills and general health (r=-0.33, p<0.05). Also, general health had a significant relationship with all aspects of communication skills, except for the dimension of decisiveness (p<0.05). Communication skills had a significant relationship with most aspects of general health, except social function (p<0.001). There was no correlation between demographic variables and communication skills (p<0.05). Moreover, the students, whose mothers had a governmental job or were housewives, had a better score of general health (p<0.05). Conclusion: Communication skills affect mental health, including reduction of physical symptoms, anxiety and sleep disorders, social dysfunction, and depression.

The Association Between Communication Skills and the Mental Health of Elderly Patients’ Hospitalization in the South of Iran Hospitals in 2020

“…According to the results of the present study, emotional regulation was another component of communication skills affecting mental health so that with increasing the emotional regulation, the level of mental health of the older people increases. This result was in line with the results of a study conducted by Amini et al (39). It can be stated that with increasing emotional regulation ability, the older people will be able to resist against psychological pressures such as stress, anxiety, and depression and maintain their mental health at an acceptable level.…”

“…It means that the mental health of elderly patients increases with increasing the level of understanding of messages (the ability to receive and send messages). In the research carried out by Amini et al (39), understanding verbal and nonverbal messages was found to be one of the predictors of general health. The ability to send and receive verbal and nonverbal messages is one of the most important factors promoting mental health since it enables older people to transfer their desired needs to others; so meeting these needs will result in a desirable level of mental health in them.…”

“…It indicates that improving the ability to establish communication with assertiveness and having right insight into the communication will increase the mental health of the older people. Tsai et al (32) and Amini et al (39) also reported that two variables of assertiveness and insight predicted the mental health of people. It can be stated that having assertiveness and right insight in communication maintains human dignity, selfesteem, and self-confidence, and helps people have a correct perception of communication.…”