Open AccessDecline in empathy levels and sex differences in medical students from the Caribbean
Author(s) -
Eugenia Smirna González-Díaz,
María Guadalupe Silva-Vetri,
Patricia Díaz-Calzadilla,
Aracelis CalzadillaNúñez,
Alejandro ReyesReyes,
Víctor Patricio Díaz Narváez
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
revista de la facultad de medicina
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2357-3848
pISSN - 0120-0011
DOI - 10.15446/revfacmed.v69n4.86227
Subject(s) - empathy , cronbach's alpha , intraclass correlation , clinical psychology , psychology , population , scale (ratio) , test (biology) , demography , medicine , social psychology , psychometrics , geography , sociology , paleontology , cartography , biology
Empathy is an important trait in the training of medical students, as it has been shown to improve the doctor-patient relationship.Objective: To evaluate empathy levels decline and possible sex differences in empathy levels in undergraduate medical students from the Universidad Central del Este, Dominican Republic.Materials and methods: Exploratory cross-sectional study. A Spanish version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy for Medical Students (S-version) Scale was administered in September 2018 to 1144 1st-year to 5th-year medical students (887 women and 257 men). The reliability of the data was verified using the Cronbach's alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Data were analyzed using a generalized linear equation model (Type III) and the Wald chi-squared test was used to determine differences in overall empathy levels and the mean scores obtained in each of its three components according to the year of medical training and to sex.Results. Cronbach's alpha was satisfactory (0.839) and the ICC was 0.834 (F=5.68; p=0.005). Variability of the estimated curves in relation to empathic behavior by course (year of medical training) and sex was observed using linear and non-linear regression equations: between courses: Wald χ2==115.6; p=0.0001, and between men and women: χ2 of Wald =12.85; p=0.001.Conclusions. There were sex differences regarding empathy levels in the study population; besides, a decline in empathy levels (overall empathy and Compassionate Care component in men, and Walking in the Patient’s Shoes component in men and women) was also observed as students progressed in their medical training. The behavior of these data raises questions regarding the need to determine the factors causing these differences and the decline in empathy levels.