Cross-cultural comparisons of empathy and its influencing factors in first-year medical students

The growing interest in examining empathy in the field of medicine results from the fact that being empathetic not only increases the patient’s satisfaction in the physician-patient relationship but also facilitates the diagnostic process and improves the clinical outcome. In 1977 empathy in medical students was measured for the first time in Australia; numerous investigations on empathy at medical schools all over the world followed. Most of them revealed a higher empathy score in females as well as a connection between the students’ choice of future medical field and their empathy scores. Furthermore, a decline in empathy scores during medical school proceedings was repeatedly found out. So far, there have been no comparative studies on empathy which have taken into account a possible influence of cultural factors on medical students` empathy. The main objectives of this study were to investigate and compare empathy in first-year undergraduate medical students of two different cultural areas focusing on the detection of new influencing factors such as cultural features and socio-demographic characteristics. Moreover, further research on known influencing factors such as gender and the future medical field was done. In the academic year 2010/11, a total of 257 students from Jimma University, Ethiopia and Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Germany completed the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) as an instrument for the quantification of emotional empathy, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RME-R test) for measuring cognitive empathy as well as a questionnaire on socio-demographic and cultural characteristics. Furthermore, interviews on the definition of empathy and possible influencing factors were conducted. The main findings of the study include the identification of religiosity, the choice of the future medical field and the gender as influencing factors on the BEES score. Participants who declared to be actively practicing their religion have higher BEES scores than participants who did not. Participants who prefer a medical field with continuity of patient care have higher BEES scores than those preferring a field with less interpersonal contact. Compared to males, females have significantly higher scores in the BEES as well as in the RME-R test. Moreover, a positive correlation between the BEES and the performance in the RME-R test indicating a connection between emotional and cognitive empathy was detected.Ein empathischer Arzt hat nicht nur zufriedenere Patienten - es gelingt ihm auch leichter eine Diagnosestellung und er erzielt bessere klinische Ergebnisse. Diese Tatsachen führen zu einem stetig steigenden Interesse an der Erforschung der Empathie im medizinischen Bereich. Auf die ersten Empathie-Messungen bei Medizinstudenten im Jahr 1977 in Australien folgten zahlreiche Untersuchungen weltweit. Die Hauptergebnisse dieser Studien sind höhere Empathie-Werte bei Frauen, ein Zusammenhang mit der gewünschten Facharztrichtung, sowie eine Abnahme der Empathie-Werte im Laufe des Medizinstudiums. Bisher gibt es noch keine Vergleichsstudien, die sich mit möglichen kulturellen Einflüssen auf die Empathie von Medizinstudenten befassen. Die Hauptziele dieser Studie waren es deshalb, die Empathie von Medizinstudenten aus dem ersten Studienjahr in zwei verschiedenen Kulturräumen zu untersuchen und zu vergleichen, wobei das Hauptaugenmerk auf die Identifikation neuer Einflussfaktoren auf die Empathie wie zum Beispiel kulturelle und soziodemographische Merkmale gelegt wurde. Außerdem wurden bereits bekannte Einflussfaktoren wie das Geschlecht und die gewünschte Facharztrichtung untersucht. Während des Studienjahres 2010/11 wurden 257 Studenten von der Universität Jimma in Äthiopien und der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Deutschland untersucht. Im Rahmen der Studie füllten die Teilnehmer mehrere Fragebögen aus: Den „Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale“ (BEES), einen Fragebogen zur Messung der emotionalen Empathie, den „Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test“ (RME-R Test) zur Erfassung der kognitiven Empathie, sowie einen Fragebogen zu kulturellen und soziodemographischen Merkmalen. Außerdem wurden Interviews mit der Frage nach der Definition des Begriffes „Empathie“ und Fragen zu möglichen Einflussfaktoren durchgeführt. Zu den Hauptergebnissen der Studie zählen die Identifizierung der Religiosität, der gewünschten Facharztrichtung sowie des Geschlechts als Einflussfaktoren auf die Empathie: Dabei schneiden Studienteilnehmer, die angaben, sich aktiv religiös zu betätigen, beim BEES besser als jene, die dies verneinten. Studienteilnehmer, die später in eine Fachrichtung mit viel Patientenkontakt gehen wollen, haben höhere BEES Werte als jene, die eine Fachrichtung mit weniger Patientenkontakt bevorzugen und Frauen schneiden sowohl im BEES als auch im RME-R Test signifikant besser ab als Männer. Außerdem wurde ein positiver Zusammenhang zwischen dem BEES und dem RME-R Test und damit zwischen der emotionalen und der kognitiven Empathie gefunden

Comparative cross-sectional study of empathy among first year and final year medical students in Jimma University, Ethiopia: Steady state of the heart and opening of the eyes

Background: There is general consent that empathy is crucial for the physician-patient relationship and thus an important issue in medical education. This comparative study was designed to examine the differences in empathy between first year and final year medical students in Jimma University, Ethiopia. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study among 131 first year and 106 final year medical students was conducted in Jimma University, Ethiopia on academic year 2010/11. The study subjects were selected using simple random sampling technique from the list of the students. Study participation was voluntary. The Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) was used for the detection of "heart-reading

The whole genome sequence of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), reveals insights into the biology and adaptive evolution of a highly invasive pest species

The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is a major destructive insect pest due to its broad host range, which includes hundreds of fruits and vegetables. It exhibits a unique ability to invade and adapt to ecological niches throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world, though medfly infestations have been prevented and controlled by the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of integrated pest management programs (IPMs). The genetic analysis and manipulation of medfly has been subject to intensive study in an effort to improve SIT efficacy and other aspects of IPM control

Assessment of the Plastic Inputs From the Seine Basin to the Sea Using Statistical and Field Approaches

International audienc

Estimer les flux de macro-déchets dans la Seine : un véritable casse-tête ?

International audienc

Real-world experience with obeticholic acid in patients with primary biliary cholangitis

Background & aims: Obeticholic acid (OCA) is the second-line treatment approved for patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and an inadequate response or intolerance to ursodeoxycholic acid. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of OCA under real-world conditions.Methods: Patients were recruited into the Italian PBC Registry, a multicentre, observational cohort study that monitors patients with PBC at national level. The primary endpoint was the biochemical response according to Poise criteria; the secondary endpoint was the biochemical response according to normal range criteria, defined as normal levels of bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) at 12 months. Safety and tolerability were also assessed.Results: We analysed 191 patients until at least 12 months of follow-up. Median age was 57 years, 94% female, 61 (32%) had cirrhosis, 28 (15%) had histologically proven overlap with autoimmune hepatitis (PBC-AIH). At 12 months, significant median reductions of ALP (-32.3%), ALT (-31.4%), and bilirubin (-11.2%) were observed. Response rates were 42.9% according to Poise criteria, and 11% by normal range criteria. Patients with cirrhosis had lower response than patients without cirrhosis (29.5% vs. 49.2%, p = 0.01), owing to a higher rate of OCA discontinuation (30% vs. 12%, p = 0.004), although with similar ALP reduction (29.4% vs. 34%, p = 0.53). Overlap PBC-AIH had a similar response to pure PBC (46.4% vs. 42.3%, p = 0.68), with higher ALT reduction at 6 months (-38% vs. -29%, p = 0.04). Thirty-three patients (17%) prematurely discontinued OCA because of adverse events, of whom 11 experienced serious adverse events. Treatment-induced pruritus was the leading cause of OCA discontinuation (67%).Conclusions: Effectiveness and safety of OCA under real-world conditions mirror those in the Poise trial. Patients with cirrhosis had lower tolerability. Overlap PBC-AIH showed higher ALT reduction at 6 months compared with patients with pure PBC.Lay summary: Obeticholic acid (OCA) was shown to be effective in more than one-third of patients not responding to ursodeoxycholic acid in a real-world context in Italy. Patients with cirrhosis had more side effects with OCA, and this led to suspension of the drug in one-third of patients. OCA was also effective in patients who had overlap between autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cholangitis. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL)