Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38849794›Full record

SynthesisBMC medical education2024

The association between empathy and burnout in medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

P Cairns, A E Isham, R Zachariae

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Teaching empathy in Balint groups.The Libyan journal of medicine · 2026
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  20. The impact of affective and cognitive empathy on stress in medical students.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

P CairnsUnit for Psycho-Oncology & Health Psychology, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. patrickcairns@psy.au.dk.
A E IshamResearch and Development Department, Division of Mental Health Services, Akershus University Hospital, Sykehusveien 25, 1478, Nordbyhagen, Norway.
R ZachariaeUnit for Psycho-Oncology & Health Psychology, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

Funding

Aarhus University School of Business and Social Sciences PhD Fellowship
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBurnout levels in medical students are higher than in other student groups. Empathy is an increasingly desired outcome of medical schools. Empathy is negatively associated with burnout in physicians. Our objective was to quantitatively review the available literature on associations between empathy and burnout in medical students, and to explore associations between specific empathy aspects (cognitive and affective) and burnout sub-dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment).

methodsA comprehensive search of the literature published up until January 2024 was undertaken in the PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO databases. Two independent reviewers screened 498 records and quality-rated and extracted data from eligible studies. The effect size correlations (ESr) were pooled using a random-effects model and between-study variation explored with meta-regression. The review was preregistered with PROSPERO (#CRD42023467670) and reported following the PRISMA guidelines.

resultsTwenty-one studies including a total of 27,129 medical students published between 2010 and 2023 were included. Overall, empathy and burnout were negatively and statistically significantly associated (ESr: -0.15, 95%CI [-0.21; -0.10], p < .001). When analyzing sub-dimensions, cognitive empathy was negatively associated with emotional exhaustion (ESr: -0.10, 95%CI [-0.17; -0.03], p = .006) and depersonalization (ESr: -0.15, 95%CI [-0.24; 0.05], p = .003), and positively associated with personal accomplishment (ESr: 0.21, 95%CI [0.12; 0.30], p < .001). Affective empathy was not statistically significantly associated with emotional exhaustion, depersonalization or personal accomplishment. Supplementary Bayesian analysis indicated the strongest evidence for the positive association between cognitive empathy and personal accomplishment. Response rate and gender moderated the relationship so that higher response rates and more male respondents strengthen the negative association between empathy and burnout.

conclusionGreater empathy, in particular cognitive empathy, is associated with lower burnout levels in medical students. This appears to be primarily driven by cognitive empathy's positive association with personal accomplishment. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: #CRD42023467670.

Indexed as

Burnout, ProfessionalEmpathyStudents, MedicalDepersonalizationHumansBurnoutEmpathyMedical studentsMeta-analysisSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID38849794
PMCPMC11157786

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.