The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy: A preliminary psychometric study and group comparisons in Korean physicians

Figures & data

Table

Practice points

JSPE affords good reliability and constructs validity for Korean physicians. Lower empathy scores in Korean physicians than in physicians from other countries may be explained by differences in the culture of medical education and medical practice. Cross-cultural differences in physician empathy are evident.

Table 1.  Descriptive statistics and reliability coefficient for the Korean translation of the JSPE for 229 Korean physicians

Statistics
Mean score	98.2
SD	12.0
Percentile
25th	90
50th (Median)	99
75th	107
Possible range	20–140
Actual range	59–135
Cronbach's coefficient alpha	0.84

Table 2.  Group comparisons on scores of the Korean translation of the JSPE by gender and specialty

Groups	n	Mean	SD
Gender^a
Men	126	96.5	12.0
Women	103	100.3	11.7
Specialty^b
Dermatology	55	101.9	9.8
Internal Medicine	11	100.0	13.9
Rehabilitation Medicine	11	99.8	10.7
Internship	85	99.4	11.6
Ophthalmology	12	97.9	10.5
General Practice	21	90.0	9.2
Radiology	11	88.5	10.8
Other	23	95.8	13.1

Notes: ^at₍₂₂₇₎ = 2.35, p < 0.05. ^bSpecialties with few physicians were grouped into “Other” category. F_(7,221) = 3.84, p < 0.01. Dermatology = Internal Med = Rehab Med = Internship > Gen Practice = Radiology = Other.