Empathy and Its Predictive Factors in Undergraduate Health Professional Students: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Setting
2.2. Participants
2.3. Data Collection, Variables, and Risk of Bias
2.4. Ethics
2.5. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Participants’ Flow and Characteristics
3.2. Empathy Levels of Nursing and Other Health Professional Students
4. Discussion
Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Public Involvement Statement
Guidelines and Standards Statement
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
STROBE | Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology |
JSE-HPS | Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Professional Students |
Appendix A
Characteristics | Completing Students (n = 206) | Dropout Students (n = 289) | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
Gender, n (%) | |||
Females | 161 (42.0) | 222 (58.0) | 0.726 * |
Males | 45 (40.2) | 67 (59.8) | |
Age, average (SD) ° | |||
Years | 18.4 (0.8) | 18.6 (1.3) | 0.198 † |
Entry ranking, average (SD) ° | |||
Points/10 | 7.4 (0.8) | 7.3 (0.9) | 0.264 † |
Has a pet, n (%) | |||
Yes | 115 (43.2) | 151 (56.8) | 0.432 * |
No | 91 (39.7) | 138 (60.3) | |
Has volunteered in a healthcare field in the last year, n (%) | |||
Yes | 75 (40.8) | 109 (59.2) | 0.767 * |
No | 131(42.1) | 180 (57.9) | |
Reason choice program, n (%) ° | |||
Sheer Interest | 193 (42.3) | 263 (57.7) | 0.394 * |
Work opportunities | 13 (35.1) | 24 (64.9) | |
Course | |||
Nursing | 98 (56.0) | 77 (44.0) | ≤0.001 |
Other Courses | 108 (33.8) | 212 (66.2) | |
JES–HPS score at T0, average (SD) | 106.5 (12.6) | 105.7 (12.9) | 0.611 * |
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Total Sample (n = 206) | Nursing Students (n = 98) | Other Students (n = 108) | p-Value | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gender, n (%) | |||||||
Male | 45 | 21.8 | 23 | 51.1 | 22 | 48.9 | 0.591 * |
Female | 161 | 78.2 | 75 | 46.6 | 86 | 53.4 | |
Age, average (SD) | |||||||
Years | 18.4 | (0.8) | 18.3 | (0.7) | 18.5 | (0.8) | 0.197 † |
Entry ranking, average (SD) | |||||||
Points/10 | 7.4 | (0.9) | 7.5 | (0.9) | 7.2 | (0.9) | 0.027 † |
Has a pet, n (%) | |||||||
No | 91 | 44.2 | 33 | 36.3 | 58 | 63.7 | 0.004 * |
Yes | 115 | 55.8 | 65 | 56.5 | 50 | 43.5 | |
Has volunteered in a healthcare field in the last year, n (%) | |||||||
No | 131 | 63.6 | 62 | 47.3 | 69 | 52.7 | 0.926 * |
Yes | 75 | 36.4 | 36 | 48.0 | 39 | 52.0 | |
Reason choice program, n (%) | |||||||
Sheer Interest | 193 | 93.7 | 95 | 49.2 | 98 | 50.8 | 0.068 * |
Work opportunities | 13 | 6.3 | 3 | 23.1 | 10 | 76.9 |
Characteristics | Total Sample Average (SD) | Nursing Students Average (SD) | Other Students Average (SD) | p-Value | Cohen’s d [95% CI] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
T0 | 106.4 (12.6) | 107.2 (12.1) | 105.7 (13.0) | 0.544 † | 0.119 [−0.155 to 0.393] |
T1 | 107.1 (12.7) | 108.7 (11.5) | 105.8 (13.5) | 0.176 † | 0.230 [−0.044 to 0.504] |
p-value | 0.369 * | 0.227 * | 0.863 * | - | - |
Independent Variable | Unstandardized Coefficient (B) | Standard Error (SE) | Standardized Coefficient (β) | t | p-Value | 95% CI for (B) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | −2.849 | 1.042 | −0.154 | −2.734 | 0.007 | −4.904 to −0.795 |
JES-HPS (T0) | −0.692 | 0.066 | −0.587 | −10.463 | <0.001 | −0.822 to −0.562 |
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Caponnetto, V.; Gaxhja, E.; Taka, I.; Prifti, E.; Masotta, V.; Paoli, I.; Lancia, L.; Dante, A.; Petrucci, C. Empathy and Its Predictive Factors in Undergraduate Health Professional Students: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. Nurs. Rep. 2025, 15, 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15090316
Caponnetto V, Gaxhja E, Taka I, Prifti E, Masotta V, Paoli I, Lancia L, Dante A, Petrucci C. Empathy and Its Predictive Factors in Undergraduate Health Professional Students: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. Nursing Reports. 2025; 15(9):316. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15090316
Chicago/Turabian StyleCaponnetto, Valeria, Elona Gaxhja, Ilda Taka, Elona Prifti, Vittorio Masotta, Ilaria Paoli, Loreto Lancia, Angelo Dante, and Cristina Petrucci. 2025. "Empathy and Its Predictive Factors in Undergraduate Health Professional Students: A Longitudinal Cohort Study" Nursing Reports 15, no. 9: 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15090316
APA StyleCaponnetto, V., Gaxhja, E., Taka, I., Prifti, E., Masotta, V., Paoli, I., Lancia, L., Dante, A., & Petrucci, C. (2025). Empathy and Its Predictive Factors in Undergraduate Health Professional Students: A Longitudinal Cohort Study. Nursing Reports, 15(9), 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15090316