(PR005) Relationship Between Endodontic Resident Emotional Intelligence and Satisfaction of Patients Experiencing Non-surgical Root Canal Treatment

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a metric of managing emotions. We studied the relationship between the EI of endodontic residents and satisfaction of patients experiencing non-surgical root canal treatment (NSRCT), as well as confounding factors of anxiety and procedural pain. The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) was administered to endodontic residents (n=9) of our institution, and they were divided into high and low average EI groups. Satisfactions surveys were distributed to patients which evaluated their emotional experience and secondary objectives. The overall mean EI for the endodontic residents was 95.9 (13.8 SD) with high (HAEI) and low (LAEI) average EI group scores being 106.0 (5.82 SD) and 87.7 (13.0 SD), respectively. The average patient satisfaction score for the HAEI and LAEI groups was 34.8 (0.368 SD) and 34.6 (0.797 SD), respectively [NS, p=0.284 (Mann-Whitney U-test)]. The average score of the patient’s perception of the resident’s emotional composure was respectively 1.04 (0.368 SD) and 1.15 (0.362 SD) for the HAEI and LAEI groups [NS, p=0.182 (Mann-Whitney U-test)]. The average anxiety score was 7.55 (3.93 SD). The average pain score for the HAEI and LAEI groups was 1.04 (1.18 SD) and 1.19 (2.02 SD), respectively [NS, p=0.830 (Mann-Whitney U-test)]. Patients experiencing NSRCT were highly satisfied regardless of the EI of their resident, anxiety level, or pain experience, despite emotional intelligence being a promising psychosocial metric to consider in the interest of maintaining continuously positive patient experiences.