Introduction:

Empathy is an emotional reasoning that should be implemented by health professionals in their encounters with patients to improve the latter’s satisfaction, adherence to treatment, and disease progression.

Objective:

To determine the degree of empathy in Colombian physicians.

Methodology:

Population-based, cross- sectional, descriptive-comparative study, conducted in different Colombian municipalities from May 2023 to May 2024. The sample was non-probabilistic, obtained by snowball sampling, and consisted of 280 subjects, including intern physicians, general practitioners, and specialists. The variables age, sex, marital status, academic training, place of professional practice, working conditions, anxiety, depression, and empathy were measured. Frequency and descriptive statistics were carried out for each variable. Comparative and correlation statistics were then carried out. A p-value < 0,05 was considered significant.

Results:

The average age was 47.8 years ± 13.4, there were significant differences in the factors that make up the Jefferson Empathy scale, by sex (greater empathy in men, p <0,02), marital status (greater empathy in widowers, p <0,04), level of education (greater empathy in administrative and non-surgical specialties, p <0,01) and work experience (greater empathy with greater work experience, p <0,01). Moderate and significant correlations were identified between empathy with age (Rho = 0,348), years of professional experience (Rho = 0,354), intralabor risk (Rho = 0,389), aggression received from patients (Rho = -0,229), and depression indicators (Rho = -0,195).

Conclusions:

Empathy in Colombian physicians is associated with years of work experience and quality of working conditions, and differences are identified between specialty physicians with those in administrative and non-surgical areas. The information provided by this research can contribute with concrete evidence leading to reflections on the importance of including in the training processes in medicine scenarios to strengthen empathy in the practice of the discipline.