Abstract
Abstract
Background:
Humanism is a fundamental component of healthcare practice and encompasses values such as respect, empathy, compassion, altruism, and ethical patient care. Major national changes and prolonged periods of conflict may influence these values among healthcare professionals. This study compared medical humanity among Syrian health professional students and practitioners in samples collected before and after December 2024.
Methods:
A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted using two independent samples collected from April to December 2022 and from January to July 2026. Humanistic values were assessed using the validated 27-item Medical Humanity Scale (MHS), scored on a 7-point Likert scale. Between-group differences were examined using parametric and nonparametric tests. Multiple linear regression with HC3 robust standard errors was used to adjust for demographic differences between the samples, and item-level comparisons were corrected using the Benjamini–Hochberg false discovery rate procedure.
Results:
A total of 991 participants were included, with 495 in the 2022 sample and 496 in the 2026 sample. Mean total MHS scores were significantly higher in the 2026 sample than in the 2022 sample (157.52 ± 12.04 vs 155.39 ± 13.70; P=0.009), although the effect size was small (Cohen’s
d
=0.17). The difference remained significant after adjustment for demographic characteristics, with the post-December 2024 sample scoring 2.01 points higher than the pre-December 2024 sample (B=2.01, 95% CI 0.33–3.69; P=0.019). Nine MHS items remained significantly different after correction for multiple comparisons. The 2026 sample scored higher on items related to kindness, respect regardless of background, willingness to treat individuals with different opinions or beliefs, equality of care, and rejection of unethical experimentation. Lower scores were observed for reporting ethically disreputable colleagues and one item related to patient decision-making.
Conclusions:
Medical humanity differed modestly but significantly between samples collected before and after December 2024. Overall MHS scores were higher in the post-December 2024 sample, although the small effect size and bidirectional item-level differences indicate that the findings should not be interpreted as a uniform improvement across all domains of medical humanism. These findings may inform medical ethics and professionalism education in Syria.