Comportamiento empático en los estudiantes de las ciencias de la salud. Universidad de Los Andes

The capacity of being empathic is considered as a basic ability in human relationships, even more so in the health field regarding the relationship with the patient. The goal was to evaluate the global empathic behavior and its dimensions in Health Science students (Medicine, Nursing and Dentistry). University of Los Andes. Merida–Venezuela. 2009-2011. Descriptive, cross- sectional and comparative study. 831 Students participated, Medicine 490, Nursing 149 and Dentistry 192. The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was used, under informed consent. The computer program SPSS 19.0 was employed. Data analysis was done using Pearson’s Chi Square Test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) including Duncan’s post hoc and Student’s t-test. Of the participants, 68.3% were female and 31.7% male. The global empathy and the factor “Standing in the patient’s shoes” was not different among the total number of students. Medicine ones scored highest regarding the factor “Perspective taking” and lowest regarding “Compassionate care”. Nursing and Dentistry students obtained an average score concerning both global empathy and its factors. Gender did not influence empathic behavior, age correlated positively with Compassionate care. Third year students showed levels of global empathy and its factors “Perspective taking” and “Compassionate care” that were significantly higher.