The Jefferson Scale of Empathy: a nationwide study of measurement properties, underlying components, latent variable structure, and national norms in medical students.

The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) is a broadly used instrument developed to measure empathy in the context of health professions education and patient care. Evidence in support of psychometrics of the JSE has been reported in health professions students and practitioners with the exception of osteopathic medical students. This study was designed to examine measurement properties, underlying components, and latent variable structure of the JSE in a nationwide sample of first-year matriculants at U.S. colleges of osteopathic medicine, and to develop a national norm table for the assessment of JSE scores. A web-based survey was administered at the beginning of the 2017-2018 academic year which included the JSE, a scale to detect good impression responses, and demographic/background information. Usable surveys were received from 6009 students enrolled in 41 college campuses (median response rate = 92%). The JSE mean score and standard deviation for the sample were 116.54 and 10.85, respectively. Item-total score correlations were positive and statistically significant (p \u3c 0.01), and Cronbach α = 0.82. Significant gender differences were observed on the JSE scores in favor of women. Also, significant differences were found on item scores between top and bottom third scorers on the JSE. Three factors of Perspective Taking, Compassionate Care, and Walking in Patient\u27s Shoes emerged in an exploratory factor analysis by using half of the sample. Results of confirmatory factor analysis with another half of the sample confirmed the 3-factor model. We also developed a national norm table which is the first to assess students\u27 JSE scores against national data

Attitudes toward osteopathic medicine scale: development and psychometrics

Objective: To develop a valid and reliable instrument for measuring attitudes toward osteopathic medicine. Methods: Participants included 5,669 first-year students from 33 U.S. colleges of osteopathic medicine, who completed an online survey at the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year. Using data from the nationwide Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy, we developed a 13-item instrument: Attitudes Toward Osteopathic Medicine Scale (ATOMS) and demonstrated the validity and reliability of its scores. The social desirability response bias was controlled in statistical analyses. Results: The corrected item-total score correlations were all positive and statistically significant, and the effect sizes of item discrimination indices were large. Cronbach\u27s coefficient alpha reliability was 0.83. Construct validity, corroborating face and content validity of the ATOMS, was supported by three components, emerged from factor analysis: Perspectives on Osteopathic Medicine, Osteopathic Diagnosis and Treatment, and Holistic-Integrative Care. Correlations between ATOMS scores and scores of cognitive empathy, emotional empathy; orientation toward interprofessional collaboration; lifelong learning; and burnout were statistically significant in the expected direction, providing validity evidence for the ATOMS. Using the method of contrasted groups, significant differences in the ATOMS scores were found by gender, ethnicity, academic background, and career interest in the expected direction, supporting the validity of the ATOMS scores. National norms were developed to assess individual scores alongside national percentile ranks. Conclusions: The ATOMS, developed in a nationwide study, supported by strong psychometric evidence for measuring orientation toward osteopathic medicine, has implications for the assessment of osteopathic medical education, patient outcomes, and admission decisions

Empathy as Related to Gender, Age, Race/Ethnicity, Academic Background, and Career Interest: A Nationwide Study of Osteopathic Medical Students in the United States.

CONTEXT: Research on associations between medical student empathy and demographics, academic background, and career interest is limited in number, lacks representative samples, and suffers from single institutional feature. This study was designed to fill the gap by examining associations between empathy in patient care, and gender, age, race/ethnicity, academic background, and career interest in nationwide, multi-institutional samples of medical students in the United States and to provide more definitive answers to the aforementioned associations with more confidence in the internal and external validity of the findings. METHODS: Four nationwide samples participated in this study (n=10,751). Samples 1, 2, 3, and 4 included 3,616 first-year; 2,764 second-year; 2,413 third-year; and 1,958 fourth-year students who completed a web-based survey at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year. The survey included questions on demographics, academic background, and career interest, the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, and the Infrequency Scale of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire to control for the effect of good impression response bias. RESULTS: Statistically significant and practically important associations were found between empathy scores and gender (in favor of women), race/ethnicity (in favor of African-American and Hispanic/Latino/Spanish), academic background (in favor of Social/Behavioral Sciences and Arts & Humanities in Samples 1 and 2), and career interest (in favor of People-Oriented and Psychiatry specialties). CONCLUSIONS: Special features of this study (e.g., nationwide representative samples; use of a validated instrument for measuring empathy in patient care; statistical control for the effect of good impression response bias; and consistency of findings in different samples from multiple institutions) provide more definitive answers to the issue of correlates of empathy in medical studentsand increase our confidence in the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the results. Findings have implications for career counselling, and targeting students who need more guidance to enhance their empathic orientation