Empathetic Attitude in Dentistry Students at Corporacion Universitaria Rafael Nuñez in Cartagena

Introduction: Empathy refers to an aspect of personality that plays an important role in interpersonal relationships, facilitating communication in order to favor the dentist-patient relationship. This interaction will improve the quality of dental care service. The aim of this study was to describe the self-reported empathy levels among dental undergraduate students, according to gender and education levels. Materials and methods: an exploratory and cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out with a sample size of 326 undergraduate dental students. Data was obtained from the first to the final year, empathy levels of students were assessed by the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy–Health Profession Students Version Questionnaire, psychometrically validated to measure empathy. For the analysis of the results, the Shapiro-Wilk normality test was applied. The means were compared using an analysis of variance with bifactorial Model type III (Anova) with first order interaction. With a significance level of p <0.05. Results: reliability was satisfactory (0.72). The scores obtained in the EEMJ ranged from a minimum of 54 to a maximum of 130 points for women and a minimum of 55 and a maximum of 126 for men, the average of global empathy scores was 95,80±12,9, The results were not significant (p = 0.185) for the academic level factor and gender (p = 0.25). Discussion: the results obtained on the levels of empathic orientation in dentistry students, were low, compared to other studies carried out in the students of North America, Mexico and Chile. The results obtained, allow to affirm that although there are no statistically significant differences in the levels of empathic orientation in the courses examined, a decrease in the empathic orientation of the students is observed as the clinical practice begins. These findings are consistent with other studies where it can be seen that the level of empathy shows a downward trend as career levels increase. Conclusions: although there were no statistically significant differences in empathic orientation between the academic and gender years; it is highlighted that in the last year of the race the score increased; men reported higher levels of empathic orientation in absolute values than women; the highest level of empathic orientation was detected in the third year group.