Avaliação de empatia nos matriculados no período vespertino no curso de graduação de fisioterapia: uma abordagem exploratória

Abstract

Empathy is considered a multidimensional construct with cognitive, affective and behavioral components and is essential to create a therapeutic alliance between patient and health professional, which influences the clinical outcome. Objective: to evaluate a sample of students in the afternoon of the Physiotherapy course at Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas (FMU), characterizing them according to sociodemographic data and in relation to the ability to empathize. Method: Cross-sectional exploratory study, experimentally designed with a quantitative perspective by completing an empathy inventory and a sociodemographic balance by volunteer university students from the 1st, 2nd and 5th semesters of the afternoon period of the physiotherapy course at FMU. This research was observed by the Ethics Committee through Plataforma Brasil and approved under number 3,989,254. Results: Perspective Taking (PT) obtained an average of 3.93, Interpersonal Flexibility (IF) of 3.22, Altruism (Al) of 3.45 and Affective Sensitivity (AS) of 4.32. The average empathy with advancing age showed a subtle improvement, except in the group of 41 to 50 years old. The average empathy of the 1^st, 2^nd and 5^th semesters were 3.73, 3.72 and 3.79, respectively. Conclusion: No significant difference was found in the evolution of empathy over the semesters, emphasizing the importance of the FMU empathy program started in 2020, in which it is relevant to focus on the development of the IF and Al factors.