Levels of Empathy among Turkish Students in Pharmacy and Pharmacy Services Programs

Abstract

To our knowledge, there is currently no research examining the levels of empathy among students enrolled in pharmacy or pharmacy services programs in Türkiye. The purpose of the present study was to address this gap in the literature by assessing the empathy levels of students enrolled in the pharmacy and pharmacy services programs at Atatürk University using the Turkish version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-40) measurement tool. The study aims to answer two primary questions: (1) what are the empathy levels of students in the pharmacy services and the pharmacy programs? and (2) are there any differences in empathy levels based on demographic variables such as gender, academic year, and family income? A total of 306 students out of 766 pharmacy program students and 86 students out of 144 students in the pharmacy services program at Atatürk University voluntarily participated in the study. The study utilized a cross-sectional design, administering the Turkish version of the Empathy Quotient to students via a questionnaire delivered through Google Forms. The mean EQ scores for pharmacy and pharmacy services students were 45.8±11.1 and 45.9±12.9, respectively. And there was no statistically significant difference between the empathy scores of two programs. After conducting one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test to investigate the difference between academic year and empathy scores, a significant difference was observed in the pharmacy program, but no significant difference was observed in the pharmacy services program. Our findings showed that empathy scores for pharmacy students were slightly above average, fluctuated throughout their education, and were notably low in recent years. Additionally, empathy scores were slightly above average among students enrolled in pharmacy services program. These findings suggest that both programs should incorporate empathy education into their curricula to enhance students' empathy levels, which in turn would ensure that future professionals possess the necessary skills to communicate effectively with patients and provide optimal care.