ASSESSING EMPATHY AMONG CZECH MEDICAL STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Objectives. The objective of the study was to examine the psychometric parameters of the Czech version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Student (JSPE-S), and to study differences in empathy scores between women and men, and students in different years of medical school. Sample and setting. The JSPE-S was administered to 725 students at the 3rd Medical School, CU Prague and to 871 students at the Faculty of Medicine UPOL. The design was cross-sectional and first to sixth year students were surveyed. Results. Exploratory factor analysis supported the existence of three components of "Perspective taking", "Compassionate care", "Empathetic understanding" and the Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.76. The effects of gender and locality were not statistically significant. The JSPE-S scores of Czech students decreased in a statistically significantly and clinically meaning-fully way over the first two years of study, staying low until the 6th year. The construct validity and internal consistency of the Czech version of the JSPE-S was generally supported. Study limitations. Firstly, attitude toward the role of the empathy in doctor-patient relation may differ substantially from actual behavior. Secondly, there is very strong possibility of cohort effects. Thirdly, the survey was conducted at one Czech and at one Moravian medical school only, what potentially limits the external validity of our finding.