The Impact of Balint Groups on Empathy and Patient-Centeredness in Brazilian Medical Students: A Quantitative Analysis

The Impact of Balint Groups on Empathy and Patient-Centeredness in Brazilian Medical Students: A Quantitative Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Impact of Balint Groups on Empathy and Patient-Centeredness in Brazilian Medical Students: A Quantitative Analysis Jéssica Leão, Iolanda Calvo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5932924/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in BMC Medical Education → Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Medical education often prioritizes technical skills over empathy and patient-centered care, leading to a decline in empathy scores among medical students. Balint Groups, which focus on the emotional and relational aspects of patient care, have been proposed as a potential intervention to address this issue. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Balint Groups on empathy and patient-centeredness among Brazilian medical students. Methods: A prospective, quantitative study was conducted with 372 medical students from 22 Brazilian states. Participants attended six virtual Balint Group sessions. Empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE-S), and patient-centeredness was assessed using the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). Data were collected before and after the intervention and analyzed using paired t-tests and ANOVA. Results: The mean empathy score increased significantly from 121.42 (±10.23) to 124.22 (±7.31) (p < 0.001). Patient-centeredness also improved, with a significant increase in the "care" subscale (p = 0.0002) and a reduction in the "power" subscale (p = 0.004). Students classified as "patient-centered" increased from 41.1% to 45.4%. Conclusions: Balint Groups significantly improved empathy and patient-centeredness among Brazilian medical students. These findings suggest that Balint Groups are an effective educational strategy to enhance relational skills in medical training, potentially leading to more humanized and empathetic healthcare professionals. Balint Groups medical education empathy patient-centered care medical students Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in BMC Medical Education → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 09 May, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 18 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 17 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 15 Apr, 2025 Editor invited by journal 14 Apr, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 09 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5932924","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":445178132,"identity":"ed648c7c-b520-46f4-b654-c87132540bb5","order_by":0,"name":"Jéssica Leão","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA90lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYgkQDEfCDeBxuIKDNRWthAnBlpRGiBA5AWZh5itDC3tz/+8KDGjoGNvfnhY5uEbQwG588eYC7cg8dhPWfMJBKOJTOw8RwzNs5JuM1gcCMvgXnGMzxaZuSwMSQ2MDOwSSSYSef+AGnhMWDmOYBHy/znjz8kNtQzsMk//yZtAbLl/BkCWmYwGEgkNhwG2sJjJs0A0nIgh4CWnhyQX47zsPHkFBv2JNzmkQT65fAMPFoM248//vijplqOn/34xgc/Em7L8Z0/e/BxAT4tDRCaBybAA0J4NDAwyGMR48EiNgpGwSgYBSMZAADGikz5gVhFSAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Universidade de São Paulo","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jéssica","middleName":"","lastName":"Leão","suffix":""},{"id":445178133,"identity":"e2a58a3e-def8-4f7a-b47b-9f0beb1dd05e","order_by":1,"name":"Iolanda Calvo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Universidade de São Paulo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Iolanda","middleName":"","lastName":"Calvo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-30 23:38:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5932924/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5932924/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-08540-6","type":"published","date":"2026-02-12T15:58:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102786720,"identity":"19ab199d-8911-4038-94c9-510d5a555175","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-16 16:14:46","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":406472,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TheImpactofBalintGroupsonEmpathyandPatientCenterednessinBrazilianMedicalStudentsAQuantitativeAnalysis1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5932924/v1_covered_d15af59a-249f-49e5-902b-ea46c8f84044.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Impact of Balint Groups on Empathy and Patient-Centeredness in Brazilian Medical Students: A Quantitative Analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-medical-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"meed","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Medical Education](http://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/meed/default.aspx","title":"BMC Medical Education","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Balint Groups, medical education, empathy, patient-centered care, medical students","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5932924/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5932924/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground: \u003c/strong\u003eMedical education often prioritizes technical skills over empathy and patient-centered care, leading to a decline in empathy scores among medical students. Balint Groups, which focus on the emotional and relational aspects of patient care, have been proposed as a potential intervention to address this issue. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Balint Groups on empathy and patient-centeredness among Brazilian medical students.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods:\u003c/strong\u003e A prospective, quantitative study was conducted with 372 medical students from 22 Brazilian states. Participants attended six virtual Balint Group sessions. Empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE-S), and patient-centeredness was assessed using the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS). Data were collected before and after the intervention and analyzed using paired t-tests and ANOVA.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults:\u003c/strong\u003e The mean empathy score increased significantly from 121.42 (±10.23) to 124.22 (±7.31) (p \u0026lt; 0.001). Patient-centeredness also improved, with a significant increase in the \"care\" subscale (p = 0.0002) and a reduction in the \"power\" subscale (p = 0.004). Students classified as \"patient-centered\" increased from 41.1% to 45.4%.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions:\u003c/strong\u003e Balint Groups significantly improved empathy and patient-centeredness among Brazilian medical students. These findings suggest that Balint Groups are an effective educational strategy to enhance relational skills in medical training, potentially leading to more humanized and empathetic healthcare professionals.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Impact of Balint Groups on Empathy and Patient-Centeredness in Brazilian Medical Students: A Quantitative Analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-21 15:25:09","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5932924/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-05-09T11:49:41+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"249528764910968293892637515894236494403","date":"2025-04-25T05:08:25+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-23T19:23:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-18T17:47:09+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"249727451763972131362049535438863100142","date":"2025-04-18T08:50:15+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"54047031576418775897379253013981128903","date":"2025-04-17T18:06:37+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-17T17:59:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-04-15T13:55:44+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-04-14T13:11:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-04-09T16:13:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Medical Education","date":"2025-04-09T16:12:10+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-medical-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"meed","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Medical Education](http://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/meed/default.aspx","title":"BMC Medical Education","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"fc536b0d-b30a-4dbf-9af7-dbd72c649f22","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 21st, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-16T16:14:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5932924","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-08540-6","journal":{"identity":"bmc-medical-education","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Medical Education"},"publishedOn":"2026-02-12 15:58:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"February 12th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-21 15:25:09","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s12909-025-08540-6","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-08540-6","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5932924","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5932924","identity":"rs-5932924","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}