A Cross-Sectional Study of Empathy Among Dental Students at King Abdulaziz University

Evaluation of empathy levels of dentistry students in pediatric dentistry clinical practice education process

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to assess the empathy levels of dental students during their clinical practice training in pediatric dentistry and to evaluate various factors that influence changes in these empathy levels.

METHODS

The study evaluated the empathy levels of a total of 350 students (70 third-year, 140 fourth-year, and 140 fifth-year dental students) who received pediatric dentistry clinical practice training and/or observation between October 2022 and December 2023. The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version was used to assess empathy levels before and after the training. The data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Wilcoxon test, and Dunn Test (p < 0.05).

RESULTS

The response rate of the participants was 92.10%. The highest empathy level was observed in third-year students, while the lowest empathy level was observed in fifth-year students. A statistically significant relationship was found between these two variables (p < 0.001). Additionally, the empathy level of female students was statistically significantly higher than that of male students (p < 0.001). Following the completion of the pediatric dentistry training, a statistically significant increase was observed in the empathy levels of the students in comparison to the baseline (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Empathy levels in students are found to be correlated with academic year, sibling count, and gender. It is of paramount importance to enhance empathy skills through training in order to foster the development of human-oriented physicians capable of effective patient communication.

Levels of Empathy in Students and Professors with Patients in a Faculty of Dentistry

BACKGROUND

Empathy is an attribute that plays an essential role in the dentist-patient therapeutic relationship, clinical care, and treatment adherence, along with providing other benefits. The main objective of this research was to establish the validity, reliability, and invariance of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy and then characterize the empathy levels of students and teachers at a dental school.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An observational and cross-sectional study analyzed a sample of undergraduate students and professors from the Universidad Andrés Bello Faculty of Dentistry (Chile) (n = 1727 and n = 267, respectively). The Empathy Scale for Health Professionals (HP) and the same scale for students (HPS) were applied.

RESULTS

The Jefferson Empathy Scale presents adequate psychometric properties. The empathy measure has adequate reliability and construct validity, confirming a fit of the three-factor empathy model to the data. The measurement is invariant within the university campus, the sex of the student, and between teacher and student. Teachers present greater empathy than students except in the Perspective Adoption dimension.

CONCLUSIONS

The Jefferson Empathy Scale is reliable, valid, and invariant among Chilean dental students and professors. Students do not differ from their professors in the cognitive component of empathy, but they present a lower score in the affective component and global empathy. It is inferred that students can develop the affective component of empathy in their interactions with their professors, increasing their overall empathy. Understanding and fostering empathy in dental students and professors can significantly improve patient care and treatment adherence and increase patient and dentist satisfaction.

Evaluating empathy level amongst the dental students using jefferson scale of physician empathy- health professional students

BACKGROUND

Empathy is described as one's ability to perceive and apprehend another person's feelings, situation, emotions, and problems as their own. Empathetic behavior increases patients' satisfaction, reduces discomfort, and helps with patient's satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Jefferson Empathy Scale and compare the measure of invariance within genders and amongst the public and private sector dental students.

METHOD

This cross-sectional study utilized JSE-HPS version for research purpose. An exploratory factor analysis was performed to detect underlying factors. Reliability of the study tool was evaluated using Cronbach alpha test. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the differences in scores between genders and among public and private university students while Student's t analysis compared the scores according to different domains. The level of significance was ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

Females demonstrated higher empathy levels (88.52 ± 14.19) along with private institute students (88.46 ± 13.98). Perspective taking and compassionate care domain was also scored highest by the females (31.73 ± 6.49 & 29.31 ± 6.22) and among second year students (33.30 ± 7.11 & 30.50 ± 7.16). PCA analysis extracted 4 factors namely (i) Health-care-provider's sense of humor contributed to improved outcome (ii) Health-care provider's understanding of patients' feelings and of their families influences treatment outcomes (iii) Understanding body language is as important as verbal communication and (iv) Patients feel better when their feelings are understood, which accounted for the 59.51% of the total variance.

CONCLUSION

The findings revealed that students from private institute and females demonstrated higher empathy score. Moreover, the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was found to be a reliable and validated tool for assessment of empathy in our sample population.

The Level of Empathy Among Medical Students at the University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Background and objective Empathy plays an important role in patient-provider relationships. It is a key aspect of therapy, ensuring accurate diagnosis, and improving compliance and outcomes, all of which contribute to clinician satisfaction. This study aimed to assess the level of empathy among medical students at the University of Tabuk. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students at Tabuk University. Data were collected using a self-administered online questionnaire based on the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version (JSPE-S). Results A total of 230 medical students participated in this study. The students' total empathy scores ranged between 55 and 131, with a mean of 99.05 ± 13.75. The highest item score was obtained for the question "Patients feel better when their physicians understand their feelings" (6.34 ± 0.99). Female students had a significantly (p=0.002) higher mean score (100.67 ± 13.06) than males (94.36 ± 14.70). Students from the clinical phase had a significantly higher mean total score compared to those from preclinical phases (100.26 ± 14.34 vs. 96.78 ± 12.33, p=0.043). Students choosing people-oriented specialties had significantly higher mean total scores than those selecting procedure-oriented specialties (100.59 ± 13.72 vs. 95.67 ± 14.46, p=0.033). Conclusion The degree of students' empathy with the patients at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tabuk was found to be highest among females, students in the clinical phase, and students intending to select people-oriented specialties. These findings have implications for medical education programs, highlighting the importance of fostering empathy skills and addressing potential gender differences in empathy development.

Empathy level towards patients among thai dental students: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to develop the Jefferson scale of Empathy - Health Professions student version (JSE-HPS) for the dental student in the Thai version and assess the empathy level in students across gender, universities, and year of dental education.

METHODS

JSE-HPS original version was translated to develop the draft Thai JSE-HPS version and was administered to 5 dental students for a pilot test. The final questionnaires (JSE-HPS) were completed by 439 dental students from five public universities and one private in Thailand in the 2021-2022 academic year. The internal consistency and reliability (test-retest) of the questionnaires were tested by using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Factor analysis was used to examine the underlying factors of the JSE-HPS (Thai language).

RESULTS

The JSE-HPS represented good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.83). Factor analysis revealed, "Compassionate Care", "Perspective Taking" and "Ability to stand in Patients' Shoes" as the first, second, and third factors, respectively. The mean empathy score of dental students was 114.30 (SD = 13.06) from the total score of 140. There were no significant differences in the empathy levels among genders, study programs, grades, universities, regions, types of universities, and years of study.

CONCLUSION

The findings confirm the reliability and validity of the JSE-HPS (Thai version) to measure the empathy level among dental students. Integrating empathic elements into the dental curriculum will help student learning to be more effective and improve treatment outcomes.

Appraisal of empathy among dental interns and postgraduate students at King Abdulaziz University: A cross-sectional study

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

Empathetic communication of dentists with their patients is a primary characteristic of their health care. This study aims to evaluate dental students' empathy levels during the transitional period of internship and postgraduate studies of different specialties at one of the oldest dental schools in Saudi Arabia and explore how this empathy was affected by gender, age, and study duration.

METHODS

In this study, the self-reported empathy level among the participants was assessed using the Jefferson scale of empathy-student version (JSE-HPS). This survey includes a 20-question Likert scale formulated to measure clinical empathy in health care professionals. The JSE-HPS was distributed to all registered dental interns and postgraduate students during the academic year 2019-20 in King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Dentistry (KAUFD), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

RESULTS

Mean total score of empathy of the participants was (101.07 ± 14.8) with a response rate of 89%. A statistically significant higher empathy score appeared among dental postgraduate students in general (p = 0.04) and specifically among the females (p = 0.04) and those with postgraduate programs for more than four years, (p = 0.02). Dental postgraduate students scored significantly higher in the parameters of standing in patients' shoes (p = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

Gender, academic level, and duration of postgraduates' studies influenced empathy more than the age of the dental graduates in KAUFD. Our recommendation is to integrate empathy into the dental curriculum emphasizing interactive communication skills and early patient contact.

Psychometric properties of the Jefferson Empathy Scale in four nursing student faculties

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Jefferson Medical Empathy Scale, Spanish version (JSE-S), its factorial structure, reliability, and the presence of invariance between genders in the behavior of empathy levels among Chilean nursing students.

METHOD

Instrumental research design. The JSE-S was applied to 1,320 nursing students. A confirmatory factor analysis was used. An invariance study between genders was carried out. Descriptive statistics were estimated. Between genders, Student's T distribution was applied alongside a homoscedasticity analysis. The level of significance was α ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

The confirmatory factor analysis determined the existence of three dimensions in the matrix. The statistical results of the invariance tests were significant, and allowed comparison between genders. Differences were found between mean empathy values, as well as in some of its dimensions between genders.

CONCLUSION

The factor structure of empathy data and its dimensions is in correspondence with the underlying three-dimensional model. There are differences in empathy levels and their dimensions between genders, with the exception of the compassionate care dimension, which was distributed similarly. Women were more empathetic than men.

Measuring Empathy among Dental Students and Interns: A Cross-Sectional Study from Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Objective

To evaluate empathy and its related factors among undergraduate dental students and interns enrolled in a public dental college in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional study used the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Students (JSE-HPS) version to determine empathy in 362 dental students and interns in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The JSE-HPS is a 20-item 7-point Likert scale questionnaire, and its score ranges from 20 to 140 with high values indicating increased empathy. Influences of age, gender, class year, previous year's grade point average (GPA), educational attainment of parents, and monthly family income on empathy were evaluated.

Results

Of 501 enrolled students and interns, 362 returned completed questionnaires, and the response rate of the study was 72%. The sample's empathy score (JSPE-HPS scale) ranged from 70 to 129 with a mean of 96.75 (±13.76). Most participants believed that empathy is important for effective communication with patients (96.1%) and can improve the provider-patient relationship (95.6%). Females demonstrated a significantly higher mean empathy score (99.98 ± 14.01) than males (92.72 ± 12.35) (P < 0.001). Similarly, the participants with high GPA (98.06 ± 13.69) had significantly greater mean empathy scores than those with low GPA (94.84 ± 13.68) (P=0.029). The mean empathy score increased significantly from junior students (3^rd and 4^th year students) to senior students (5^th and 6^th year students) and interns (P=0.008). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that class year (B = 2.03, P=0.006) and GPA (B = 8.67, P=0.003) were significant factors associated with empathy.

Conclusions

Empathy is important for effective patient communication and improved provider-patient relationship. Female gender, high GPA, and class years were associated with empathy. Empathy should be integrated into dental curricula for effective student learning and positive patient care outcomes.

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Levels of Empathy among Undergraduate Dental Students in Pakistan

Objective  The purpose of our study is to determine the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the levels of empathy toward patients among undergraduate dental students in Pakistan.

Materials and Methods  A cross-sectional, survey-based study was conducted at Islamic International Dental College, Islamabad, Pakistan. After taking an informed consent, a validated and pretested Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) was distributed amongst the undergraduate dental students at two points, one before the COVID-19 existed, and the other after August 7th, 2020, when the COVID-19 cases dropped in Pakistan. Responses were indicated on a five point Likert Scale.

Statistical Analysis  A one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used to compare the TEQ scores between the different years of education at the dental school. Difference within the groups was analyzed using the post-hoc Tukey test. Pre- and post-COVID-19 comparison was done using the Chi-square test (significance level p < 0.05).

Results  A total of 221 out of 260 students in the pre-COVID-19 group, while 210 out of 260 students in the post-COVID-19 group enrolled in the dentistry program participated in the study. Significant difference in the empathy levels was observed in the pre- and post-COVID-19 groups of the same population, i.e., ( p < 0.05). The response rate was 85%.

Conclusions  This study showed an increase in mean empathy scores among the undergraduate dental students after COVID-19, indicating a significant improvement in their empathy levels during the time of COVID-19. It highlights the impact of the pandemic, whereby death and chaos seem to have brought about an improvement in interpersonal harmony.