Assessing empathy among medical students: A comparative analysis using two different scales in a Brazilian medical school

espanolObjetivo El objetivo de los autores fue comparar dos escalas diferentes de empatia a lo largo de la carrera de medicina de seis anos, entre los estudiantes que asistian a una escuela de medicina fundada nueve anos atras en la ciudad brasilena de Sao Paulo. Metodo Estudio transversal. Los autores evaluaron una muestra de 296 estudiantes. La evaluacion de la empatia se realizo utilizando la Escala de Empatia de los Medicos de Jefferson (JSPE), version para estudiantes de medicina, y el Indice de Reactividad Interpersonal multidimensional de Davis (IRI-version brasilena), aplicando ambos de manera simultanea a cada estudiante. Se dividio a los estudiantes en tres grupos, con arreglo a su curso de carrera de medicina: Grupo basico (1er y 2° anos), Grupo Clinico (3r° y 4° anos) y Grupo de Practicas (5° y 6° anos). Se compararon los datos socio-demograficos y las puntuaciones sobre empatia entre estos tres grupos, utilizando las pruebas χ2 y Kruskal-Wallis, segun el caso. Resultados Las puntuaciones JSPE fueron similares entre los estudiantes de los grupos basico, clinico y de practicas (p = 0,53). Por otro lado, la dimension afectiva de la version brasilena de IRI revelo una puntuacion inferior en el Grupo de Practicas (p Conclusiones Los autores sugieren que el nivel de empatia puede cambiar y que, en este caso, la dimension afectiva se vio mas afectada durante la ensenanza de medicina. EnglishPurpose The authors aimed to compare two different empathy scales across the six-year medical course, among undergraduate medical students attending a school of medicine that was established nine years ago in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. Method Cross-sectional study. The authors evaluated a sample of 296 students. The empathy evaluation was performed using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), version for medical students, and Davis's multidimensional Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-Brazilian version), applying both to each student simultaneously. The students were divided into three groups, according to their year on the medical course: Basic Group (1st and 2nd years), Clinical Group (3rd and 4th years) and Clerkship Group (5th and 6th years). Socio-demographic data and empathy scores, for both scales, were compared between these three groups using the Chi-square test and the Kruskal–Wallis test, as applicable. Results the JSPE scores were similar among the students from the Basic, Clinical and Clerkship groups (p = 0.53). On the other hand, the affective dimension of IRI-Brazilian version revealed a significantly lower score in the Clerkship Group (p Conclusions The authors suggest that the level of empathy can change, and in this case, the affective dimension was most affected during medical school.