Changes in Empathy Levels on Dentistry’s Students of Public University in Cartagena City, Colombia

Abstract

Objective: To compare levels of empathy in dentistry students in the cohorts of 2013 and 2016 years, in a public university in Cartagena, Colombia. Material and Methods: The sample consists of 332 students from first to fifth academic year. The instrument used was the Jefferson Medical Empathy Scale (EEMJ), Spanish version for medical students (version S), validated in Mexico and Chile and adapted for students of dentistry in Colombia. Implementation was anonymous and confidential and informed consent was used. The scale was judged by judges in order to verify cultural validity and students' understanding of the scale was evaluated. The means and standard deviation were estimated. A bifactorial variance analysis, model III was applied to find differences of means between academic years, the genders and in the interaction of these factors. The comparison between empathic cohort data 2013 and 2016 was performed using the Wilks Lambda Statistician and the M Box test. The level of significance used was α≤0.05 and β<0.20. Results: The results were significant for the "academic years" factor (p = 0.027), gender (p = 0.782) and interaction (p = 0.364) were not significant. The size of the effect of the statistical differences found is not high. The value of R2 corrected shows that the factors studied explain only 2.9% of all the variation of empathy. Conclusion: The empathy in the study subjects presents some fluctuations; however there are no statistically significant differences for the factors of interest among the cohorts evaluated.

Psychometry and empathy levels and its dimensions in postgraduate students of dental specialties

“…In relation to empathic training in dental students, the passage through undergraduate and the positive experiences they could receive, constitute the last opportunity for them to develop empathy in their cognitive and emotional aspects. 8,10,16,18,37,49 However, because empathy is a complex attribute because it is a system supported by different neuronal structure (but interconnected by intricate networks), and interacting with the environment, the interventions corresponding to each stage must also be complex. In the case of undergraduate education, interventions should be carefully planned, as deeply as possible, sustained over a long time and should include complex actions provided by specialised interdisciplinary teams.…”

“…As a consequence, several authors in Latin America have stated that intervention planning requires a thorough preliminary diagnosis of the specific empathic situation. 9,10,[18][19][20] The most widely used instrument in the measurement of empathy in Latin America is the JSPE, however, in our region it has been little studied in dentists in the process of specialisation including their psychometric properties. The psychometric study allows describing the properties of this scale, which could provide a solid basis to refute or confirm the findings found in Latin America in relation to the variability of empathy (and its dimensions).…”

Psychometry: Cutting-Off Points and Standardization of the Jefferson Empathy Scale Adapted for Students of Kinesiology

“…Regarding gender, while women are often perceived as more empathetic than men, both in the general population and among health students (Rueckert et al, 2011), results of empirical measurements of empathy in students from Latin America have shown contradictory results (Calzadilla-Núñez et al, 2017; Díaz-Narváez et al, 2017; González-Martínez et al, 2018).…”

“…There is a trend of conducting “empathic interventions,” however this lacks prior definitions of this attribute’s behavior. Nevertheless, some authors recognize the possible errors of these activities and postulate that interventions of this type should involve modification of the entire curriculum to achieve permanent positive changes regarding empathy in students (Calzadilla-Núñez et al, 2017; Díaz-Narváez & Calzadilla-Núñez, 2019; Díaz-Narváez et al, 2015, 2017; Galán et al, 2014; González-Martínez et al, 2018; Madera-Anaya et al, 2016; Preusche & Lamm, 2016). As a consequence, an objective diagnosis of specific characteristics of empathic behavior is both important and necessary so that our interventions correspond to reality.…”

The influence of clinical training level on the empathy levels of undergraduate and postgraduate dental students

“…Differences were explained by factors such as gender, age, different curriculums or cultural backgrounds of students. [3][4][5][6][7] Postgraduate dental students continue their education in specialized areas of dentistry, which represent a transitionary level between students and academic staff. Although they mostly treat their patients themselves, they still consult their supervisors when necessary.…”