Empathy in Medical Students in Relation to Pedriatic Patients: a Cross-Sectional Study, 2019

Abstract:

Introduction:

Empathy involves the ability to identify and perceive a patient’s personal feelings and experiences, as well as the ability to see the world from another person’s perspective. In Pediatrics, there is the challenge of looking for a good relationship with the patient and their caregivers, who play a key role in both the care and the result of the treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of empathy of medical students related to pediatric patients.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study, with a convenience sample, conducted with 4^th and 6^th-year medicine students at Universidade José do Rosário Vellano, Campus Alfenas. Levels of empathy were assessed using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy. A sociodemographic questionnaire collected data on possible independent variables such as gender, age, marital status, chronic individual and familial diseases, mental disorders and intended medical specialty. Student’s T test, two-tailed Fischer exact test and linear regression were used in statistical analysis. The level of significance was 0.05.

Results:

From February to April 2019, 159 students, from a total of 196 eligible candidates, agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 10 were excluded due to incomplete questionnaires. The final sample was composed of 149 (76.0%) students, 74 (49.7%) from the 4^th-year and 75 (50.3%) from the 6^th-year. There was no difference between the overall empathy score between the 4^th and 6^th-year students. The overall empathy score was higher in females (p_adjusted=0.011), as was the Compassionate Care domain score (p_adjusted=0.013). Volunteers reporting chronic familial disease and those who had difficulty performing a pediatric physical examination reported a significantly higher score in the Compassionate Care domain (p_adjusted=0.038 and p_adjusted=0.037, respectively).

Conclusion:

The global empathy score and its different domains were high, except for the Ability to Stand in the Patient’s Shoes domain. No relationship was found between empathy and its different domains and the year of undergraduate medical training.

Keywords:
Empathy; Medical Education; Pediatrics