Empathy and psychological concerns among medical students in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Being in direct contact with COVID-19 patients for long periods of time increases the risk of infection among frontline workers. The purpose of this study was to identify levels of empathy and psychological concern among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online cross-sectional study was conducted among medical interns divided into two groups; those who worked in the frontline (n = 87) and non-frontline (n = 63) during the COVID pandemic. The students completed a questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics as well as the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale and Patient Health Questionnaire. The majority of study respondents were women (70.7%) and mean age was 25.45 ± 3.93years. In the unadjusted analysis, those who worked with COVID-19 patients had higher levels of empathy, stress, burnout syndrome and depressive symptoms. In the logistic regression analysis, students who worked on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic had higher levels of empathy (OR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.16-1.14), stress (OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.05-1.39) and burnout syndrome (OR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.10-1.30). Medical students in the internship period who worked on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic had more psychological concerns and higher levels of empathy compared to those who did not work on the frontline.