Measuring Empathy in Pharmacy Students

Abstract

Objective. To validate the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Students version (JSE-HPS) in pharmacy students. Methods. The JSE-HPS (20 items), adapted from the original Jefferson Scale of Empathy for use among students in the healthcare professions, was completed by 187 first-year pharmacy students at Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy. Results. Two factors, "perspective-taking" and "compassionate care," emerged from factor analysis in this study, accounting for 31% and 8% of the variance, respectively. These factors are similar to the prominent ones reported in previous research involving physicians and medical students, supporting the construct validity of this instrument for pharmacy students. In the current study, mean JSE-HPS score was comparable to those reported for medical students, and consistent with previous findings with medical students and physicians. Women scored significantly higher than men. Conclusions. Findings support the construct validity and reliability of the JSE-HPS for measuring empathy in pharmacy students.

Empathy In Chinese Pharmacy Undergraduates: Implication for Integrating Humanities Into Professional Pharmacy Education

“…19,20 JSE-HPS has long been recognised as a validated instrument for empathy studies in pharmacy education, and was believed appropriate for the assessment of educational outcomes of different programs to enhance empathy and research on correlates of empathy in pharmacy education and practice. 9 The original Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) developed nearly a decade ago has been widely used to measure empathy in physicians and medical students around the world, including a recent report on Chinese medical students. 20 However, JSE-HPS revised from the original JSPE was first used in a study of undergraduate nursing students in 2011, 25 which provided support for the validity and reliability of JSE-HPS.…”

“…Two researches have been reported about the measurement properties of the JSE-HPS among pharmacy students. 9 firstly examined the validity and reliability of the JSE-HPS in 187 first-year pharmacy students at Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy. 19 then showed that scores on the empathy scale were positively associated with JSE-HPS scores in 158 American pharmacy students.…”

“…Based on our calculations, at least 100 participants are needed for a study which would have 90% power (two-tailed test significance level of 0.05) to detect the mean difference of at least 10 points on the JSE-HPS score (with standard deviation of 12 based on external sources). 9,20 Our previous study 21 reported that the overall response rate of survey on the pharmacy undergraduates of our university was 96.6%. Thus, we compensated for an additional dropout rate of 5% due to some students' being unable to participate or uncompleted questionnaires.…”

“…8 The concept of empathy has been defined for the context of patient care: predominantly a cognitive attribute that involves an understanding of patients' concerns, the capacity to communicate this understanding, and an intention to help. 9 Along with the prescribing physician, pharmacists, as the most accessible health care professionals, 10 are in a unique position to offer patients their specialized skills and knowledge about the safe and rationale use of medications, thus have an important role in informing and counseling patients. From the perspective of patients, empathy was believed as one of the most important domains composing the pharmacist caring behaviors constructs in migraineurs, 11 dementia 12 and asthma 13 treatment.…”

“…The answers to these questions can provide a reference for educators to implement curricular changes and develop educational guideline. Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Student version (JSE-HPS), a valid and reliable instrument for measuring empathy among pharmacy students, 9,19 was completed by 263 pharmacy undergraduates at College of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology. Based on students' empathetic qualities, tendencies and willingness, some recommendations about Chinese humanistic education centered on empathy in pharmacy teaching were put forward.…”