Empathy among health science undergraduates toward the diagnosis of chronic pain: An experimental study.

Objectives: To analyse the empathetic response of future health professionals toward people diagnosed with chronic pain differentiated by the degree of visibility and credibility of symptoms.

Methods: A total of 203 undergraduates performed an experimental task using vignettes depicting different diagnoses of chronic pain and completed questionnaires measuring dispositional and situational empathy. A MANCOVA analysis was conducted.