Investigating Empathy: The Unresolved Enigma - A Multicenter Study among Dental Students in South India

Introduction: Empathy in health care is associated with a reduction in patient’s anxiety, improved cooperation in child patients, increased treatment compliance, improved treatment outcomes, and reduced stress. A recent systematic review of research on empathy among dental students stated that there is not enough evidence to understand empathy among dental students. A gap still exists in the understanding of the link between Empathy and gender and year of study. This multi-centric, cross-sectional study assesses the gender-wise and year-wise differences in empathy among dental students in Puducherry. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and fourteen clinical students (3rd year, final year, interns and postgraduates) of three Dental Institutes participated in the study. Empathy was scored using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy – Healthcare Provider-Student version assessed on a five -point Likert scale. Student’s t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. (P < 0.05). Results: Mean Empathy Score among the dental students was 68.71 (SD 7.441); 32.4% were male 67.6% were female. Difference in mean empathy scores between males (67.64 ± 7.72) and Females (69.22 ± 7.26) was statistically significant (P = 0.043). Interns showed the highest empathy levels and post-graduates the lowest. However, the difference in empathy levels across the different years of study was not statistically significant. (Third year 68.75 ± 7.24, final year 68.07 ± 6.97, interns 69.82 ± 7.82 and postgraduates 67.87 ± 8.13; P = 0.206). Conclusion: Empathy level among the students was low. Females had higher empathy levels. Among the undergraduates, empathy levels did not decline with increase in year of study, a finding which is contradictory to existing evidence. Educational reforms in the existing curriculum are required to impart ethics and professionalism and improve the empathy levels of dental students