Evaluation of Clinical Communication in Pharmacy Undergraduates in Brazil: A Multicentric Study.

Objective: To assess the clinical communication characteristics of pharmacy undergraduates, estimate differences in this specific competency, and produce recommendations for further education and training.
Methods: Analysis of communication competence between 110 pharmacy students in the last graduation year from each of the 5 Brazilian regions and a simulated patient with complaints of mild allergic rhinitis passive of resolution with non-prescription medicines. The simulated appointment was recorded, and the video was analyzed using the 2 main elements: biomedical/task-focused and socio-emotional exchange of the Roter Interaction Analysis System.
Results: The total of utterances/speech from the pharmacist to the patient was 183.4; there was a statistically significant difference according to the Brazilian region. In the consultation, the frequency with which pharmacy students returned to the segment was evaluated, with a total mean clinical history segment 2 of mean 5.60; in segment 4, which is the counseling phase, an average of 4.80. In the task codes and the socio-emotional codes, there was a statistically significant difference between the codes when compared by region. We compare by sex because it is said that women talk more than men. There was a statistically significant difference in socio-emotional code and biomedical/focused and task being higher for women.
Conclusion: The level of communication competence of students should be that desired for graduation, in all regions. There seems to be a difference between training and level of competence. Considering gender, although the consultation time is similar, it appears that the quality of communication is higher for women.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Federal University of São João Del-Rei and the Coordination Program of Professional Improvemet of Higher Education (CAPES) for financial assistance and the Minas Gerais State Research Support Foundation (FAPEMIG).
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