Relationship of Mental Health and Burnout with Empathy Among Undergraduate Medical Students in Lahore, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Empathy, crucial for effective communication and patient care in medicine can be influenced by stress, workload, burnout, and impaired mental well-being. Objectives: To evaluate the burnout levels, mental health status, and factors influencing empathy among undergraduate medical students at King Edward Medical University in Lahore. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among MBBS students from the third to final year at King Edward Medical University, Lahore, with ethical approval granted by the Institutional Review Board. Four questionnaires were used: a personal and demographic survey, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Data analysis involved assessing several factors influencing empathy using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Results: The study evaluated 164 Muslim participants (mean age: 21.77 years; SD = 1.10), of whom 45.1% were male and 54.9% female. Physical illness was reported by 4.9% and psychiatric conditions by 6.7%. No significant association was found between socio-demographic factors (gender, illness, substance use, academic year, and specialty preference) and empathy. Empathy was not significantly related to mental health (WEMWBS) or burnout (MBI). Most participants (96.3%) demonstrated below-average empathy, with a median TEQ score of 31 (IQR: 28–35). Conclusion: Most participants exhibited below-average empathy, high depersonalization, and low personal achievement. Despite these findings, mental health was generally good, and exhaustion levels were low. No significant association was found between empathy and other factors