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 4th and 6th-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 4th-year and 75 (50.3%) from the 6th-year. There was no difference between the overall empathy score between the 4th and 6th-year students. The overall empathy score was higher in females (padjusted=0.011), as was the Compassionate Care domain score (padjusted=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 (padjusted=0.038 and padjusted=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.

摘要：共情（Empathy）指能够识别、感知患者的个人情感与经历，并能站在他人视角看待世界的能力。在儿科领域，构建与患者及其照护者的良好关系颇具挑战——后者在诊疗照护与治疗结局中均发挥关键作用。本研究旨在评估医学生针对儿科患者的共情水平。方法：本研究为横断面研究，采用便利抽样法，招募了若泽·杜罗萨里奥·韦拉诺大学（Universidade José do Rosário Vellano）阿尔菲纳斯校区的四年级与六年级医学生。采用杰弗逊共情量表（Jefferson Scale of Empathy）评估共情水平；通过社会人口学问卷收集可能的自变量数据，包括性别、年龄、婚姻状况、个人与家族慢性疾病史、精神障碍情况以及意向从事的医学专科方向。统计分析采用Student's t检验、双侧费希尔精确检验与线性回归，显著性水平设为0.05。结果：2019年2月至4月期间，196名符合纳入标准的学生中有159名同意参与本研究。其中10名因问卷填写不完整被排除，最终有效样本为149名（占比76.0%），其中四年级学生74名（49.7%），六年级学生75名（50.3%）。四年级与六年级学生的总体共情得分无显著差异。女性受试者的总体共情得分更高（校正后P=0.011），同理其共情关怀维度得分亦更高（校正后P=0.013）。报告存在家族慢性疾病史，以及自述在儿科体格检查中存在操作困难的受试者，其共情关怀维度得分均显著更高（校正后P分别为0.038与0.037）。结论：除“站在患者视角”（Ability to Stand in the Patient’s Shoes）维度外，总体共情得分及其余各维度得分均处于较高水平。未发现共情水平及其各维度与医学生本科培养年级之间存在关联。