Measurement of humanity among interns of Internal Medicine Department, Damascus University: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Although humanity is important within the medical health field, the authors lack studies that address this topic. Objective: The authors aimed to assess humanity among a sample of Syrian internal medicine interns. Methods: The authors have used a validated scale based on the Medical Humanity Scale (MHS) categorized into seven human values included in 30 questions (patient-oriented care, respect, empathy, ethics, altruism, and compassion). The scale can test the differentiation between these interns with different levels of medical humanity. A 7-point Likert scale was adopted. Six hundred sixty-five participants from the Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University entered our study. Results: The mean score of the MHS was 147.14 (13.1) Female residents humanity scores (mean 149.14, SD 15.1) was significantly higher than male students’ scores (mean 145.48, SD 13.35; P=.007), KMO=0.843>0.7, which is near 1, and the Bartlett test of sphericity =4187.043 (df=465; P=.01). The Cronbach α was >0.683, was indicating the validity and reliability of the scale. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the humanity level is accepted by using a scale based on MHS among interns of the Internal Medicine Department, Damascus University.