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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.

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CONTEXT: Empathy is one of the fundamentals of communication relevant within the practice of dentistry, and the research is limited in this field. AIMS: The present study was conducted to assess the self-reported empathy levels among dental undergraduate students in Lucknow city of Northern India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among three dental colleges of Lucknow city during July 2019-September 2019. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: E-survey link was circulated among 790 students through e-mails. It has two parts. The first part included sociodemographic information, wherein the second part, the empathy level of students was assessed using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Health Profession Students Version Questionnaire. The possible score range is 20-140: the higher the mean score, the higher the self-reported empathy level. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data collected were analyzed using SPSS software version 24. Chi-square test was used to test gender distribution differences among different years. One-way analysis of variance including post hoc tests was used to compare the differences between study variables. RESULTS: The mean ± standard deviation empathy score was 92.55 ± 11.85, 91.85 ± 12.23, 93.25 ± 11.24, 93.37 ± 12.31, and 88.34 ± 12.01 among the first-year, second-year, third-year, final-year, and interns' students, respectively, with a statistically significant difference. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded from the results of the present study that the mean empathy score was highest among final-year students which is suggestive of the impact of education in behavioral sciences.

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BACKGROUND: The prevalence of oral diseases in people with dementia has increased, and patients with dementia have worse oral health than people without dementia. However, in the provision of oral care, these patients often exhibit care-resistant behaviours. Empathy is important for health care professionals who provide dental care for people with dementia. A study was conducted to assess whether a multimodal comprehensive care methodology training programme, Humanitude™, was associated with an improvement in empathy for people with dementia among oral health care professionals. METHODS: This research was a pre-post prospective study. A total of 45 dentists and dental hygienists participated in a 7-h multimodal comprehensive care methodology training programme. Participants' empathy for their patients was evaluated with the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Health Professionals Version (JSPE-HP) before the training and 1 month after the training (primary outcome). Each participant listed 3 patients with poor oral health due to the refusal of usual oral care or dental treatment from his or her clinical practice. The oral health of the 3 care-resistant patients listed by each participant was evaluated by the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) before the training and 1 month after the training (secondary outcome). RESULTS: The post-training response rate was 87% (21 dentists and 18 dental hygienists). From pre-training to post-training, the multimodal comprehensive care methodology training significantly increased the mean empathy score (from 113.97 to 122.95, P < 0.05, effect size = 0.9). Regardless of gender, profession and years of clinical experience, all post-training subgroup scores were higher than the pre-training subgroup scores. The tongue, natural teeth, and oral hygiene scores of patients with dementia who resisted usual oral care or dental treatment, as assessed by the OHAT, were significantly improved compared with those before the training. CONCLUSIONS: The multimodal comprehensive care methodology training was associated with an improvement in oral health professionals' empathy for patients with dementia. These findings suggest that randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes will be needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR), UMIN000041687 . Registered 4 September 2020 - Retrospectively registered, https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000047586.

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BACKGROUND: As an important feature in patient-physician communication for both primary and clinical care, empathy is one of the basic competencies that physicians should possess. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the level of empathy among medical students in all years of medical training using two different instruments: the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (for clinical empathy level) and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (for general empathy level). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in 2017-2018 academic year with students studying at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine. Data collection form, Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) and Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was applied to the students by the researchers. The statistical analysis was carried out by using IBM-SPSS version 23 for Mac OS. T-test, ANOVA test, Spearman and Pearson correlation analysis were used for comparisons. RESULTS: The mean TEQ score of the students was 52.8/65 and the JSPE-S score was 80.3/100. TEQ scores of students increased up to 4th year and then decreased, but the difference between the years was not statistically significant. The third year students' JSPE-S scores were significantly higher than that of the sixth year students. CONCLUSION: While the clinical empathy levels of medical students decreased significantly after 3rd year, the general empathy levels decreased less. This result shows us that we should review our medical education curriculum and educational environment, and should initiate initiatives, and devote more time to empathy education in order to prevent the decrease in empathy level and increase empathy during medical education.

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BACKGROUND: Empathy and emotional intelligence (EI) of a dentist are two factors vital for developing fruitful relations between clinicians and patients. Establishing a good relationship with patients may improve patients' outcomes. Data on empathy and EI in dental practitioners in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is scarce. AIMS: Hence, we aimed to evaluate and compare empathy and EI among dental practitioners in Abha and Khamis Mushayat cities of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey study. A total of 183 dental practitioners who were reachable at survey time were included. A self-administered questionnaire on empathy and EI was structured based on Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (health professions version) and Schutte's Emotional Intelligence Scale, respectively. Statistical analysis was done using Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed between both genders regarding empathy and EI (P = 0.73 and 0.97, respectively). Similarly, no significant difference was observed between participants with different qualifications or different work settings (P > 0.05). However, a statistically significant positive correlation was observed between empathy and EI (r = 0.722). CONCLUSIONS: Irrespective of gender, qualification, or different work settings, dental practitioners in both cities showed adequate empathy and EI levels. Dentists with high empathy scores seem to show high EI levels. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Evaluating and monitoring empathy and EI practice among dental practitioners have paramount importance to improve clinical practice and healing potential of patients. Low levels of empathy and EI practice would suggest modifications to training curriculum or healthcare policies.

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AIM: Empathy is a crucial component of the nurse-patient relationship, but knowledge is lacking as to when empathy develops during nursing education. The aim of the present study was to compare empathy levels at different stages of undergraduate nursing education and different master's nursing programmes. DESIGN: The design was a comparative cross-sectional study. METHODS: A total of 329 participants in Sweden, comprised of nursing students in their second and sixth semesters in an undergraduate nursing programme as well as master's nursing students, rated their own empathy using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. RESULTS: Students in their sixth semester in an undergraduate nursing programme expressed more empathy than did students in their second semester and master's nursing students. Among the five master's programmes, public-health nursing students expressed the most empathy and intensive-care nursing students the least.

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BACKGROUND: Empathy is one of the essential components of physician-patient relationship that has a significant effect on treatment outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the empathy score among medical students in Mashhad, Iran. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study in 2015, 624 medical students at Mashhad University of Medical Science (Iran) completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE). Data were analyzed by SPSS ver. 16, using independent-samples t-test, Chi-square, MANOVA, Spearman correlation, and Confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: Of the 38.4% males and 65% females who participated in this study, the mean score of JSPE in the sample was 103.67 (±15.34) which was higher in women than in men. Also, the mean scores for each of the three factors of the scale were calculated. The total empathy score, compassionate care, and taking perspectives among different age groups were significant (p=0.000). Furthermore, students having high interest in their field were more empathic (p=0.008). Empathy of interns in relation to three areas of basic sciences (the first year, the second year and the first half of the third year), physiopathology (the second half of the third year, and the fourth year), and clinical trainings (the fifth year, and the first half of the sixth year), experienced significant reduction (p≤0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that empathy was higher in women in their first medical year and who were of younger age. The overall rate of empathy in the basic sciences period was more than that in the clinical period. Therefore, the initial exposure to clinical education, especially patient education and empathy, has a very prominent effect on the ability of medical students.

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Background: Research evidence over the past 20 years has established that doctors' ability to empathize with their patients is a crucial component of effective health care. Consequently, teaching and reinforcing empathy has entered undergraduate medical education curricula; however, there have been mixed results in terms of its effectiveness. While there is evidence that empathy fluctuates during undergraduate medical training, there has been very little longitudinal research looking at medical students' empathy levels over their full course of study. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether medical students' empathy changed during their 5-year MBBS degree. Methods: Students completed the medical student version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) at the start of Year 1 and then near the end of Years 2, 3, 4, and 5 during 2009-2015. Total empathy score for students who had completed the JSPE in all 5 years of medical training was compared over time using nonparametrical statistical analysis. Results: Results indicated that medical students' empathy varies with empathy being highest at the start of the medical course in Year 1, declining to a low in Year 3 and then rising again in Years 4 and 5. There was a tendency for female students to have higher empathy scores compared to male students in each of the 5 years, with scores significantly different in Years 2, 3, and 4. However, there were no differences in empathy scores according to the students' age. Discussion: The decline in empathy in the early years of undergraduate medical training is a concern. Medical educators should teach and reinforce empathy during early years of undergraduate medical training in a sustainable way to guard against declining empathy levels. Specific interventions targeted at increasing empathy in male students might be warranted in the future.

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Introduction This study seeks to explore whether the documented decline in medical student empathy can be prevented or slowed using simulated patient-role activities and small-group discussions about the patient experience of living with a chronic illness. Methods First-year students (M1, n = 118) at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine (UCFCOM) participated in a simulated patient-role activity resembling the experience of a patient with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The activity included taking daily "medication," participating in moderate exercise, and maintaining a low carbohydrate diet. At the end of the simulated patient-role activity, students took part in a small-group discussion about their experiences. Students completed the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy: Student Version (JSPE:S) before and after the activity. Additionally, fourth-year students (M4) at UCFCOM completed the JSPE:S to serve as the control, as this class completed the curriculum without any simulated patient-role activities. Results A total of 86 responses out of 118 possible M1 participants (73% response rate) were received. Of these, 62 surveys were completed and were therefore used for statistical analysis. A dependent sample t-test revealed no statistically significant increase on pre-activity (M = 111.15, SD = 8.56) and post-activity (M = 111.38, SD = 9.12) empathy scores (p = .78). A positive correlation was revealed to exist between pre- and post-activity empathy scores (r = 0.72, p < 0.001). Empathy comparisons for the full sample M1 post-activity results (n = 62) and the M4 results (n = 16, M = 106.56, SD = 10.61) revealed no statistically significant difference (p = .11). Discussion Although previous authors have shown that patient role-playing activities, such as those performed in this study, should maintain and/or increase empathy in medical students, our findings suggest that on a short-term scale, empathy levels were not affected by the activity.

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine differences of levels of empathy among undergraduates in each year of their four-year programs of physiotherapy. METHODS: During the 2014-2015 academic school year, 381 physiotherapy students were enlisted from two universities in Istanbul, one a foundation and the other a government university. The Turkish version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy was administered. Students were asked to indicate interest in particular physiotherapy specialties as well as their region of origin in Turkey. The Kruskal-Wallis analysis was used to determine differences among the four study years, and also to measure relationships between specialty interest, home-region, and empathy scores of the students. Empathy scores were also compared according to gender. RESULTS: The difference of empathy scores between the students of the two universities was borderline significant (p=0.057). Empathy scores in both universities increased to a significant degree after school entrance and decreased in the final year. Levels of empathy did not change according to gender, specialty interest, or home-region (p=0.722, 0.524, and 0.309, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study points to the need for physiotherapy curricula that would enhance empathy and give students practice in exhibiting this valuable attribute. Additional studies are needed that would include larger study populations and track the same students year by year as to how and why their empathy levels change during their training.

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OBJECTIVE: Surgeons and psychiatrists have been described as two contrary groups, the one healing by hands and the other by words. Empathy is needed in every physician-patient relationship. We tested whether (1) surgeons and psychiatrists show different levels of cognitive and emotional empathy; (2) measurements of cognitive and emotional empathy correlate with physician-specific empathy; and (3) gender, experience, and career choices are influencing factors. METHODS: 56 surgeons and 50 psychiatrists participated. We measured empathy with the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), cognitive empathy with the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test Revised (RME-R6), and emotional empathy with the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES). RESULTS: Male psychiatrists scored significantly higher than that of male surgeons (118.0±9.86 vs. 107.5±13.84; p=0.0006) in the JSPE. Analytically trained psychiatrists scored significantly higher in the JSPE than that of behaviorally trained psychiatrists (p=0.024, F test, adjusted for gender). Both the RME and the BEES correlated positively with the JSPE. CONCLUSION: Higher scores for empathy were found in male psychiatrists than in male surgeons. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Further research is needed to learn about the effects of general medical training on empathy.

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Objetivo. Comparar la orientación empática entre estudiantes de Medicina de tres facultades de Medicina de Colombia y una de República Dominicana. Material y métodos. Se midió la orientación empática de los estudiantes de Medicina mediante la escala de empatía médica de Jefferson, en la versión en español para estudiantes (versión S) validada en México y Chile, y adaptada culturalmente a Colombia y República Dominicana. Los datos se compararon mediante un análisis de varianza trifactorial (modelo III) y por un análisis discriminante. Resultados. No se encontraron diferencias de orientación empática entre los cursos ni entre los sexos, pero sí entre las facultades de Medicina consideradas como una unidad en cada uno de los países estudiados. Conclusiones. Los niveles de orientación empática tienden a disminuir a medida que los cursos avanzan. Este hecho se produce en estudiantes de ambos sexos y en todas las facultades analizadas.

Objective. To compare empathic orientation among medical students from three schools of medicine in Colombia and one in the Dominican Republic. Material and Methods. Empathic orientation of medical students was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), Spanish version for students (the "S" version) validated in Mexico and Chile, and culturally adapted to Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Data were compared using a three-factor analysis of variance (model III) and a discriminant analysis. Results. No differences in empathic orientation were observed among courses and between sexes, but differences were found in schools of medicine considered as a unit in each studied country. Conclusions. Empathic orientation levels tend to reduce as courses advance. This was observed in both male and female students and in all schools analyzed.

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Objetivo. Comparar la orientación empática entre estudiantes de Medicina de tres facultades de Medicina de Colombia y una de República Dominicana. Material y métodos. Se midió la orientación empática de los estudiantes de Medicina mediante la escala de empatía médica de Jefferson, en la versión en español para estudiantes (versión S) validada en México y Chile, y adaptada culturalmente a Colombia y República Dominicana. Los datos se compararon mediante un análisis de varianza trifactorial (modelo III) y por un análisis discriminante. Resultados. No se encontraron diferencias de orientación empática entre los cursos ni entre los sexos, pero sí entre las facultades de Medicina consideradas como una unidad en cada uno de los países estudiados. Conclusiones. Los niveles de orientación empática tienden a disminuir a medida que los cursos avanzan. Este hecho se produce en estudiantes de ambos sexos y en todas las facultades analizadas.(AU)

Objective. To compare empathic orientation among medical students from three schools of medicine in Colombia and one in the Dominican Republic. Material and Methods. Empathic orientation of medical students was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), Spanish version for students (the "S" version) validated in Mexico and Chile, and culturally adapted to Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Data were compared using a three-factor analysis of variance (model III) and a discriminant analysis. Results. No differences in empathic orientation were observed among courses and between sexes, but differences were found in schools of medicine considered as a unit in each studied country. Conclusions. Empathic orientation levels tend to reduce as courses advance. This was observed in both male and female students and in all schools analyzed.(AU)

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El objetivo del presente trabajo es evaluar la orientación empática, considerando los factores curso y género, en los estudiantes de la carrera de Odontología de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad Latinoamericana de Ciencias y Tecnología (ULACIT) de Costa Rica. Se tomó una muestra de 225 estudiantes pertenecientes al equivalente de los niveles 1ro., 2do., 3ro., 4to. y 5to. de la Carrera de Odontología. Se encuestaron con una herramienta llamada Escala de Empatía para Odontólogos de Jefferson, versión S, durante una semana, un día determinado por nivel. Después de realizar el análisis estadístico se encontró que los años superiores muestran niveles de orientación empática mayores que el resto de los cursos examinados en ambos géneros. Esto se debe al aumento, en la práctica clínica, de los estudiantes al final de la carrera y a la responsabilidad y compromiso que llegan a tener con sus pacientes. Además, en general, la orientación empática es mayor en el género femenino que en el masculino y esta va evolucionando de diferente forma para ambos géneros a lo largo de la carrera(AU)

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the emphatic orientation, considering the gender and course factors, in Odontology students in the Health Sciences Faculty of the Latin American University of Sciences and Technology in Costa Rica. The sample was composed of 225 students from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th levels in Odontology Studies. They were inquired using a tool called The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student Version (JSPE-S) during a week, a determined day per level. After carrying out the statistical analysis, it was found that the higher levels show higher levels of empathetic orientation than the rest of the courses examined in both genders. It is due to the increase of the students' clinical practice at the end of the studies and to the responsibility and commitment they achieve with their patients. Also, in general, empathetic orientation is higher in females than in males and it is evolving differently through years of studies(AU)

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  Emotional intelligence and empathy are crucial in patient–physician relationships and clinical outcomes. It has been reported that both emotional intelligence and empathy decrease as students advance through medical school. This study aimed to validate Japanese versions of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire–Short Form （TEIQue–SF）, developed by Petrides and Furnham （2001）, and the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy （JSPE）, developed by Hojat et al. （2001）.<br>1）The TEIQue–SF and JSPE were translated and administered to 370 medical students. Valid responses were obtained from 321 students（88%）.<br>2）Cronbach’s alpha for internal reliability was high for both the TEIQue–SF （0.87） and the JSPE （0.89）. All item total score correlations were positive for both the TEIQue–SF （range, 0.29 to 0.64） and the JSPE （range, 0.27 to 0.72）.<br>3）Cronbach’s alpha was smaller if an item was deleted than if all items were included for both the TEIQue–SF （0.84–0.85） and the JSPE （0.81–0.86）.<br>4）Factor analysis of both the TEIQue–SF and the JSPE revealed that the Japanese versions had some structural differences from the original versions. However, criterion–related analysis showed that the TEIQue–SF and the JSPE were highly correlated with the NEO–Five Factor Inventory, a measure of the Big Five personality traits.<br>5）These findings provide support for the construct validity and reliability of the Japanese versions of the TEIQue–SF and the JSPE when used for medical students. Further investigation is needed.