Assessment of the Attitude of Undergraduate Dental Students and Interns towards Empathy in Dental Faculty of Tehran Islamic Azad University in 2020

Introduction: Empathy reduces the inherent anxiety of dental care procedures and can increase the patient's satisfaction with the services provided. On the other hand, The absence of positive empathic attitude in dental practitioners is one of the most important issues in dental care services The aim of this study was to determine the attitude of undergraduate dental students and interns toward empathy and association factors in Islamic Azad University of Tehran - dental branch in 2020. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 274 people of dental undergraduate students and interns of Islamic Azad University of Tehran - dental branch were chosen. For data collection, demographic and the Persian translation of Jefferson empathy questionnaire were used. SPSS version 16, one-way ANOVA and correlation coefficients were used for data analyses. Results: 255 approved questionnaires were returned. Among the factors studied, three factors (age, gender, previous clinical activity) had statistically significant impact on empathy. Age was inversely related to empathy score (P = 0.02) and empathy score was higher in women than men and this difference was statistically significant (P = 0.034). Students with more previous clinical activities scored higher empathy numbers (P=0/004). Other factor's impact on empathy were not statistically significant (P>0/05). Conclusion: This study found that The average score obtained by students and professional assistants seems to indicate that they have acceptable levels of ethical commitment. Emphasis is placed on ethical policies to increase empathy.