Introduction:

Empathy is an important attribute that all health professionals must have. The aspects associated with its being taught constitute a problem not yet solved in students of health sciences in general.

Objective:

To evaluate empathic behavior and that of its components or dimensions in Kinesiology students at Bernardo OHiggins University in Santiago de Chile.

Methods:

Exploratory, non-experimental and cross-sectional study. The data were obtained by applying the Jefferson Scale of Medical Empathy scale, adapted for Kinesiology students by using the criteria of judges and which were subjected to reliability estimates, by using Cronbach's α and intraclass correlation, and processed through analysis of two-factor variance (model III), in order to evaluate the variables of interest and their possible interaction. In addition, the effect size and the power of the test were estimated, and mean and standard deviations were calculated for each variable analyzed. The level of significance was α≤0.05 and β≥0.80.

Results:

Empathy levels were found to be relatively low and remained constant, with a decline in the fifth academic year.

Conclusions:

The empathic decline model was not fulfilled and differences were found between the genders. The characteristics observed constitute the diagnosis of the empathic situation. Such specificities must be considered in any strategy aimed at raising empathy levels and constitutes a guide for planning an intervention.

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