title: Empathy in undergraduate medical students of bangladesh: psychometric analysis and differences by gender, academic year, and specialty preferences.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Chattagram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Asma
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4924-9977
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mostafa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Chattagram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Rozina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hoque
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Chattagram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital Medical College, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mostafa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Chittagong Medical College, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Md Mashud
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rana
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Diabetic Association Medical College, Faridpur, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Faisal
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9233-9455
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mostafa