Comparison of Self-Reported Empathy Levels among Dental Undergraduate Students in Northern India: A Questionnaire-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Context: Empathy is one of the fundamentals of communication relevant within the practice of dentistry, and the research is limited in this field. Aims: The present study was conducted to assess the self-reported empathy levels among dental undergraduate students in Lucknow city of Northern India. Settings and Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among three dental colleges of Lucknow city during July 2019-September 2019. Subjects and Methods: E-survey link was circulated among 790 students through e-mails. It has two parts. The first part included sociodemographic information, wherein the second part, the empathy level of students was assessed using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Health Profession Students Version Questionnaire. The possible score range is 20-140: the higher the mean score, the higher the self-reported empathy level. Statistical Analysis Used: The data collected were analyzed using SPSS software version 24. Chi-square test was used to test gender distribution differences among different years. One-way analysis of variance including post hoc tests was used to compare the differences between study variables. Results: The mean +/- standard deviation empathy score was 92.55 +/- 11.85, 91.85 +/- 12.23, 93.25 +/- 11.24, 93.37 +/- 12.31, and 88.34 +/- 12.01 among the first-year, second-year, third-year, final-year, and interns' students, respectively, with a statistically significant difference. Conclusion: It can be concluded from the results of the present study that the mean empathy score was highest among final-year students which is suggestive of the impact of education in behavioral sciences.