A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivation
Abstract Background Professional empathy has been associated with a range of positive patient- and clinician outcomes and is therefore considered important to develop for future physicians. Measuring changes in empathy scores among medical students by using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (Student ve...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03532-2 |
| _version_ | 1811334491419967488 |
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| author | Elisabeth Assing Hvidt Jens Søndergaard Sonja Wehberg Niels Christian Hvidt Christina Maar Andersen |
| author_facet | Elisabeth Assing Hvidt Jens Søndergaard Sonja Wehberg Niels Christian Hvidt Christina Maar Andersen |
| author_sort | Elisabeth Assing Hvidt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Professional empathy has been associated with a range of positive patient- and clinician outcomes and is therefore considered important to develop for future physicians. Measuring changes in empathy scores among medical students by using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (Student version) (JSE-S) has led to mixed results. So far, no investigation of Danish medical students’ empathy development has been conducted. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the associations between empathy scores among Danish medical students and medical school, year of curriculum, age, sex, co-habitation, and parental status, specialty preferences and motivations for choosing medicine as a future profession. Methods This was a cross-sectional questionnaire study. All medical students from four medical schools in Denmark in their first, third and sixth year (N = 4,178) were invited to participate in the study in October 2020. The associations between JSE-S sum score and the above explanatory factors were analysed by uni- and multivariable linear regression models. Results The JSE-S was completed by 672 medical students. The overall mean score was 112.7. There were no statistically significant differences in empathy between medical schools, first, third- and sixth- year medical students, age groups or parental status. Female students and students living with a spouse or partner scored higher on JSE-S than male students or students living alone, and the sex difference remained statistically significant in the multivariable regression. In both the univariable and multivariable setting, preference for future medical specialty was statistically significant, with a decrease in scores for students choosing surgery-specialties. Motivational factors were not statistically significantly associated with empathy, although there was a slight upwards trend for one of the motivational categories, named “personal experiences”. Conclusions Overall, our results showed neither decrease nor increase but instead rather stable empathy scores across years of curriculum of medical students in Denmark, adding to the mixed picture of empathy development among medical students. Our findings are consistent with positive associations found in international studies between empathy scores and higher age, female sex, specialty preferences for psychiatry and general practice and altruistic motivations for choosing to enroll. Although specialty preferences are changing during medical education, they may be used meaningfully as predictors of individual student empathy levels. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:09:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-37f4bd3b88214e51b3a42be76c7d5909 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T17:09:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-37f4bd3b88214e51b3a42be76c7d59092022-12-22T02:38:20ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202022-06-0122111210.1186/s12909-022-03532-2A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivationElisabeth Assing Hvidt0Jens Søndergaard1Sonja Wehberg2Niels Christian Hvidt3Christina Maar Andersen4Research Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern DenmarkResearch Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern DenmarkResearch Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern DenmarkResearch Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern DenmarkDepartment for Psychology, University of Southern DenmarkAbstract Background Professional empathy has been associated with a range of positive patient- and clinician outcomes and is therefore considered important to develop for future physicians. Measuring changes in empathy scores among medical students by using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (Student version) (JSE-S) has led to mixed results. So far, no investigation of Danish medical students’ empathy development has been conducted. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the associations between empathy scores among Danish medical students and medical school, year of curriculum, age, sex, co-habitation, and parental status, specialty preferences and motivations for choosing medicine as a future profession. Methods This was a cross-sectional questionnaire study. All medical students from four medical schools in Denmark in their first, third and sixth year (N = 4,178) were invited to participate in the study in October 2020. The associations between JSE-S sum score and the above explanatory factors were analysed by uni- and multivariable linear regression models. Results The JSE-S was completed by 672 medical students. The overall mean score was 112.7. There were no statistically significant differences in empathy between medical schools, first, third- and sixth- year medical students, age groups or parental status. Female students and students living with a spouse or partner scored higher on JSE-S than male students or students living alone, and the sex difference remained statistically significant in the multivariable regression. In both the univariable and multivariable setting, preference for future medical specialty was statistically significant, with a decrease in scores for students choosing surgery-specialties. Motivational factors were not statistically significantly associated with empathy, although there was a slight upwards trend for one of the motivational categories, named “personal experiences”. Conclusions Overall, our results showed neither decrease nor increase but instead rather stable empathy scores across years of curriculum of medical students in Denmark, adding to the mixed picture of empathy development among medical students. Our findings are consistent with positive associations found in international studies between empathy scores and higher age, female sex, specialty preferences for psychiatry and general practice and altruistic motivations for choosing to enroll. Although specialty preferences are changing during medical education, they may be used meaningfully as predictors of individual student empathy levels.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03532-2Empathy levelCross-sectional studyJefferson Empathy Scale (Student Version)DenmarkMedical educationSpecialty preferences |
| spellingShingle | Elisabeth Assing Hvidt Jens Søndergaard Sonja Wehberg Niels Christian Hvidt Christina Maar Andersen A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivation BMC Medical Education Empathy level Cross-sectional study Jefferson Empathy Scale (Student Version) Denmark Medical education Specialty preferences |
| title | A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivation |
| title_full | A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivation |
| title_fullStr | A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivation |
| title_full_unstemmed | A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivation |
| title_short | A cross-sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in Denmark—associations between empathy level and age, sex, specialty preferences and motivation |
| title_sort | cross sectional study of student empathy across four medical schools in denmark associations between empathy level and age sex specialty preferences and motivation |
| topic | Empathy level Cross-sectional study Jefferson Empathy Scale (Student Version) Denmark Medical education Specialty preferences |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03532-2 |
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