Introduction:The controversy over the presence of empathic decline within the course in students of medicine, dentistry and health sciences in general, has not fully been studied. This controversy could be partially solved if massive studies of empathy levels are made in similar cultural, social and economic contexts. Material and Methods:Empathy levels within the course were studied in eighteen dental schools from six countries in Latin America (2013). The mean of the empathy levels were used to study the behavior between first and fifth academic years. The values of empathy levels within the course were observed by applying the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy, the Spanish version. All these studies were cross-sectional. The value of means observed, were subjected to regression studies and further adjustment curves were obtained and the coefficient of determination were calculated. Results: Six different models of behavior were observed, which found that five of them suffer empathic decline within the course, but with different final results: in some the decline persists until the fifth academic year and in others, this decline 'recovers' persistently until the fifth academic year. The sixth model is characterized by a constant and persistent increase of levels of empathy within the course until the last academic year. Discussion: There are six different models for the behavior of means of levels of empathy within the course evaluated by a common methodology in eighteen dental schools from six countries of Latin America. These findings support the existence of variability of empathic response and a comprehensive approach is needed to find the causes that give rise to this variability. Conclusion:In dental students of Latin America, there is variability in the behavior of the distribution in means between the academic years of the dentistry schools examined in this study.
Objective The objective of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the 3‐dimensional latent model of empathy on the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy instrument (version S), and to verify the existence of cutoff points capable of differentiating empathy measures classified as: “high,” “medium,” and “low” using data collected from observations of students from 11 dental faculties of 5 Central American and Caribbean countries (n = 3082) between 2015 and 2019. Methods This is an exploratory, “a posteriori,” and non‐experimental study. Factor structure and factor invariance by country and gender were analyzed. Hierarchical cluster analysis and bifactorial analysis were applied, and the data were normalized by cluster and by percentiles within them. Results Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the original model was replicable and fit the data, while multigroup analysis allowed assuming an invariant factor structure by country and by gender. There is reliability in the measurement made by the scale and its dimensions. Conclusions The instrument has adequate psychometric properties, and cutoff values obtained allow people with lower or higher levels of empathy and its components to be classified. Therefore, these results solve the problem of comparing the scores and observed levels of empathy between dental schools within and between countries and between genders. Such comparisons were only possible since the original data of each study were made available for traditional statistical methods.
Introduction: 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.
Objective. To examine the association between tobaccorelated risk factors and smoking among third-year dental students in Latin American countries. Materials and methods. Logistic regression models were used to analyze Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS) data. Results. Of 5 605 respondents, 33% smoked and 45% had been exposed to secondhand smoke during the previous month, 34% smoked in school buildings during the past year, and 85% had never received formal training in smoking cessation. Smoking was significantly associated with male sex; Bolivian, Chilean, or Mexican nationality; exposure to secondhand smoke; lacking self-perception of being a "role model" for patients; and not believing that health professionals who smoke are less likely to advise patients to quit smoking. Conclusions. All dental schools should encourage tobacco-free policies and offer cessation services. Cessation training must be incorporated into dental curricula to include dental professionals in the battle against the tobacco epidemic.Keywords: smoking; tobacco; prevalence; student; dentistry http://doi.org/10.21149/7828Resumen Objetivo. Analizar la asociación entre ciertos factores de riesgo relacionados con el tabaquismo en estudiantes de tercer año de odontología de países latinoamericanos. Material y métodos. Se analizaron los datos de la Encuesta Mundial de Estudiantes de Profesiones de la Salud (GHPSS, por sus siglas en inglés) mediante la aplicación de modelos de regresión logística. Resultados. De los 5 605 encuestados, 33% fumó y 45% estuvo expuesto al humo de segunda mano durante el mes pasado; 34% fumó en los edificios de las escuelas dentales durante el pasado año y 85% nunca recibió entrenamiento formal en cesación de tabaquismo. Ser boliviano, chileno o mexicano; estar expuestos al humo de segunda mano; no auto-percibirse como un "modelo a seguir" para los pacientes; y no creer que un profesional de salud que fuma es menos propenso a aconsejar a sus pacientes para dejar de fumar fueron factores asociados significativamente con el tabaquismo. Conclusiones. Todas las escuelas dentales deben fomentar las políticas contra el consumo de tabaco y ofrecer servicios de cesación de tabaquismo. La formación sobre cesación debe incorporarse a los planes de estudio con el fin de incluir a los profesionales dentales en la batalla contra la epidemia de tabaquismo.
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