Empathy and Components of Empathy in Obstetrics Students

Introduction: Empathy with the patient is an
important attribute that contributes to the
success of treatment. This attribute must be
object of teaching in the training stage of the
student of the health sciences.
Objective: To evaluate the levels of empathy and
its components in students of the Obstetrics
course at the University of Norbert Wiener, Peru.
Material and Methods: Design: cross-sectional
study. Participants: The sample was composed of
219 first-year to fifth-year students.
Measurements: The Jefferson Empathy Scale, S
version for students was applied. The internal
reliability of the data was estimated using the
general Cronbach's alpha, interclass correlation
coefficient, Hotelling's T2, and Tukey nonadditive
test; the mean and standard deviation
were estimated. A bi-factorial analysis of variance
(ANOVA), model III was applied in the academic
years, the genders and the interaction of these
two factors.
Results: The empathic level of obstetrics students
has an average of 105,95 points, out of a
maximum of 140, and it is higher (in absolute
values) than other values observed in analogous
measurements in Latin America. In general, there
are no significant differences in empathy
between academic years and genders, and in the
components of empathy.
Conclusions: The average level of empathy
among obstetrics students at Wiener University
shows relative little growth per year of study.