The associates of Emotional Intelligence in medical students: A systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Emotional Intelligence (EI) is especially important for medical undergraduates due to the long undergraduate period and relatively high demands of the medical course. Determining associates of EI would not only enable identification of those who are most suited for the discipline of medicine but would also help in designing training strategies to target specific groups. However, there is diversity of opinion regarding the associates of EI in medical students. Aim of the study was to determine associates of EI in medical students. Methods: The databases MEDLINE, CENTRAL, Scopus, EbscoHost, LILAC, IMSEAR and three others were searched. It was followed by hand-searching, cited/citing references and searching through PQDT. All studies on the phenomenon of EI and/or its associates with medical students as participants were retrieved. Studies from all continents of the world, published in English were selected. They were assessed for quality using Q-SSP checklist followed by narrative synthesis on selected studies. Results: Seven hundred and ninety-two articles were identified of which 29 met inclusion criteria. One article was excluded as its full text was not available. Seven articles found an association between ‘EI and academic performance’, 11 identified an association between ‘EI and mental health’, 11 found an association between ‘EI and Gender’, 6 identified an association between ‘EI and Empathy’ while two have found an association with the learning environment. Conclusion: Higher EI is associated with better academic performance, better mental health, happiness, learning environment, good sleep quality and less fatigue, female gender and greater empathy.

Keywords

• emotional intelligence
• associates of emotional intelligence
• medical students
• mental wellbeing
• empathy