The relationship between emotional intelligence and clinical reasoning among Iranian medical students: A cross-sectional study

Clinical reasoning is the heart of medicine, and the lack of this skill is associated with increased medical errors, reduced patient safety, and inadequate patient care. Given the importance of emotions in decision-making behaviors, this study aimed to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence on clinical reasoning among medical students of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 on 151 medical students selected by simple random method. Data collection tools in this study included the diagnostic thinking inventory and Schutt et al.'s standard emotional intelligence questionnaire (1998). The mean age of the participants was 1.76 (SD=25.15) years, with 42.4% being male and 57.6% being female. Most students (35.1%, 53 people) were eighth-semester students, 34.4% (52 people) were ninth-semester students, and 30.5% (46 people) were tenth-semester medical students. The mean score of overall emotional intelligence was 109.86 (SD=9.11), and among the dimensions of emotional intelligence, emotional capability obtained the highest score (38.22 [SD=4.01]). The mean score of overall clinical reasoning was 15.44 (SD=11.15), which was moderate. The mean score for the dimension of flexibility in thinking was 8.6 (SD=5.80), and the score for memory structure was 75.62 (SD=59.90). Spearman correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and clinical reasoning (r=0.179, P=0.028), indicating that the level of clinical reasoning also increases with increasing emotional intelligence. According to the results of this study, healthcare officials and managers must improve the physicians’ cognitive, emotional, and clinical decision-making skills by designing and implementing appropriate educational programs.