Empathy in Undergraduate Medical Students of Bangladesh: Psychometric Analysis and Differences by Gender, Academic Year, and Specialty Preferences

Empathy is considered to be associated with better patient compliance, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. The aim of the study is to measure and examine empathy among a sample of undergraduate medical students of Bangladesh. It was a cross-sectional study and all the medical students of first through fifth year enrolled at Chattagram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College during the study period of 2014 were surveyed. Participants anonymously completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy Medical Student version translated into Bengali language, a valid and reliable 20-item self-administered questionnaire. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient were calculated to check validity and reliability of the scale. ANOVA was used to examine the differences in empathy between gender, academic years, and specialty preferences. The mean empathy score was 110.41？±？13.59. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.88. There were significant associations between gender and empathy scores. The level of empathy in medical students gradually increases after clinical training in medical college. A nonsignificant difference was found between empathy scores and specialty preferences. It is suggested that the medical curriculum in Bangladesh should include more extensive program to promote empathy and other humanistic values among the medical students. 1. Introduction Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others [1]. It is the power of entering into others’ personality and imaginatively experiencing their emotional state. Hojat et al. define empathy as “a predominantly cognitive attribute that involves understanding of the patient’s experiences, concerns, and perspectives, and a capability to communicate this understanding. An intention to help by preventing and alleviating pain and suffering is an additional feature of empathy in the context of patient care” [2]. Empathy is essential in “physician-patient relationship” to produce a desire within physician to help the patient, to know what the patient is thinking or feeling, to provide best care to the patient, and to blur the line between physician and patient [3]. Empathy is important in development of interpersonal understanding which allows the patient to feel respected and validated [3]. It is the key element which can propel the physician toward altruistic action [4]. It helps the physician to be closer to patient, putting the benefit of other above those of self, even at some sacrifice to one self. Empathy is considered to be associated with improved