Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Levels of Empathy among Undergraduate Dental Students in Pakistan

Sundas Ghaus; Madiha Abdul Waheed; Shahreen Zahid Khan; Laila Mustafa; Sohaib Siddique; Ali Waqar Quershi

doi:10.1055/s-0040-1722091

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Levels of Empathy among Undergraduate Dental Students in Pakistan

Eur J Dent. 2020 Dec;14(S 01):S110-S115. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1722091. Epub 2020 Dec 26.

Authors

Sundas Ghaus¹, Madiha Abdul Waheed², Shahreen Zahid Khan^{1

3}, Laila Mustafa⁴, Sohaib Siddique⁵, Ali Waqar Quershi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dental Materials, Shifa College of Dentistry, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
² Department of Operative Dentistry, Shifa College of Dentistry, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
³ Department of Biomedical Sciences, SMME, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Shifa College of Dentistry, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Periodontics, Shifa College of Dentistry, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
⁶ Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Shifa College of Dentistry, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of our study is to determine the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the levels of empathy toward patients among undergraduate dental students in Pakistan.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, survey-based study was conducted at Islamic International Dental College, Islamabad, Pakistan. After taking an informed consent, a validated and pretested Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) was distributed amongst the undergraduate dental students at two points, one before the COVID-19 existed, and the other after August 7th, 2020, when the COVID-19 cases dropped in Pakistan. Responses were indicated on a five point Likert Scale.

Statistical analysis: A one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used to compare the TEQ scores between the different years of education at the dental school. Difference within the groups was analyzed using the post-hoc Tukey test. Pre- and post-COVID-19 comparison was done using the Chi-square test (significance level p < 0.05).

Results: A total of 221 out of 260 students in the pre-COVID-19 group, while 210 out of 260 students in the post-COVID-19 group enrolled in the dentistry program participated in the study. Significant difference in the empathy levels was observed in the pre- and post-COVID-19 groups of the same population, i.e., (p < 0.05). The response rate was 85%.

Conclusions: This study showed an increase in mean empathy scores among the undergraduate dental students after COVID-19, indicating a significant improvement in their empathy levels during the time of COVID-19. It highlights the impact of the pandemic, whereby death and chaos seem to have brought about an improvement in interpersonal harmony.

European Journal of Dentistry. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).