Does Emotional Intelligence of Dental Undergraduates Influence Their Patient Satisfaction?

OBJECTIVES: The research aimed to investigate if emotional intelligence (EI) scores of dental undergraduates influenced their patients' satisfaction with the treatment received. METHODS: A 33-item EI questionnaire was completed by 46 dental undergraduates in a cross-sectional study. Responses, measured on a five-point Likert scale, were summed to yield EI scores. Patients treated by the same undergraduates were invited to complete a patient satisfaction (PS) questionnaire. EI and PS scores were calculated and compared by undergraduates' gender and the patients' age and education status. The four EI factors (optimism/mood regulation, appraisal of emotions, utilization of emotions, and social skills of students) were correlated with PS using Spearman's correlation test with a significance level set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: EI scores did not differ significantly between male (N = 23) and female (N = 23) undergraduates (p=0.218). PS was not associated with patients' gender, but those educated to the secondary school level were more likely to be satisfied compared to those educated to the college/university level (p=0.022). Of the four EI factors, optimism/mood regulation was positively correlated with PS (p=0.049). CONCLUSION: The results of the study suggest that the EI of the students can influence PS. Practical Implications. Interventions to enhance EI can be developed to improve the patient experience.