Level of empathy in dental students from a Paraguayan university during patient care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021
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Abstract
Introduction: empathy is defined as the ability that people can assume to put themselves in the place of others, hence it is logical to think that it is one of the central axes in the dentist-patient relationship.
Objective: to determine the level of empathy in students of the Facultad de Odontología of Universidad Nacional de Asunción in the year 2021.
Methodology: it was a cross-sectional descriptive observational study. The participants were evaluated using the Jefferson Medical Empathy Scale, and sociodemographic data were also collected. Pearson's Chi square statistical test and Fisher's Exact Test were applied with a confidence level of 95 %.
Result: 125 students from third to fifth year participated, 56 % resided in Asunción, with an average age of 23 ± 2 years. The mean empathy was 91,46 (cd = 9,48). Most of the students presented low empathy (68.8%) in the "Care with Compassion" component, high (89.6 %) with respect to "Perspective Taking", and medium (66.4 %) regarding to “put yourself in the place of the other”. The 71.2 % had a medium level of global empathy. No association was found between the level of empathy and gender (p=1.00) or academic year (p=0.56).
Conclusion: most of the students presented a medium level of empathy, being high for perspective taking, medium for putting yourself in another's shoes, and low for compassionate care.
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References
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