Empathy, personality traits, and emotional management in 2nd and 4th-year dentistry students: a single-center study

Background Patients fearing dental interventions are at risk of delaying or skipping much-needed treatments. Empathic communication could lead to a higher rate of compliance from patients within this group. Empathy, the big five personality traits, and emotion management abilities are all known to influence the quality of communication between dentists and patients. This study was conducted to analyze whether there is a correlation between these factors in dentistry students. Methods Dentistry students in their 2nd and 4th year of study were asked to complete questionnaires assessing empathy, emotion management, and personality traits. Out of a total of 148 eligible participants, 53 students (34%) volunteered to participate. For empathy, the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (students’ version; JSPE-S) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were used. Personality traits were assessed using the Short Big Five Inventory (BFI-s), and the Situational Test of Emotional Management (STEM) to measure emotional management ability. Results Higher scores for emotion management were significantly correlated with the female gender (p ≤ 0.005) and with higher scores in openness (p ≤ 0.05). Students with higher scores in openness also achieved higher scores on the IRI subscales: Perspective taking (p ≤ 0.05), Fantasy (p ≤ 0.01), Empathic concern (p ≤ 0.05), and Personal distress (p ≤ 0.05). For JSPE-S, no correlation with emotion management and personality traits was found. Conclusion Empathy and emotion management might not be significantly related in dentistry students. Regarding personality traits, students who scored higher on openness also indicated higher abilities in emotion management. These findings should be taken into consideration when planning communication courses for dentistry students, as it might be possible to independently train empathy and emotion management as part of emotional intelligence.

Multi-institutional intervention to improve patient perception of physician empathy in emergency care

BackgroundPhysician empathy has been linked to increased patient satisfaction, improved patient outcomes and reduced provider burnout. Our objective was to test the effectiveness of an educational intervention to improve physician empathy and trust in the ED setting.MethodsPhysician participants from six emergency medicine residencies in the US were studied from 2018 to 2019 using a pre–post, quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design with randomisation at the site level. Intervention participants at three hospitals received an educational intervention, guided by acognitivemap (the ‘empathy circle’). This intervention was further emphasised by the use of motivational texts delivered to participants throughout the course of the study. The primary outcome was change in E patient perception of resident empathy (Jefferson scale of patient perception of physician empathy (JSPPPE) and Trust in Physicians Scale (Tips)) before (T1) and 3–6 months later (T2).ResultsData were collected for 221 residents (postgraduate year 1–4.) In controls, the mean (SD) JSPPPE scores at T1 and T2 were 29 (3.8) and 29 (4.0), respectively (mean difference 0.8, 95% CI: −0.7 to 2.4, p=0.20, paired t-test). In the intervention group, the JSPPPE scores at T1 and T2 were 28 (4.4) and 30 (4.0), respectively (mean difference 1.4, 95% CI: 0.0 to 2.8, p=0.08). In controls, the TIPS at T1 was 65 (6.3) and T2 was 66 (5.8) (mean difference −0.1, 95% CI: −3.8 to 3.6, p=0.35). In the intervention group, the TIPS at T1 was 63 (6.9) and T2 was 66 (6.3) (mean difference 2.4, 95% CI: 0.2 to 4.5, p=0.007). Hierarchical regression revealed no effect of time×group interaction for JSPPPE (p=0.71) nor TIPS (p=0.16).ConclusionAn educational intervention with the addition of text reminders designed to increase empathic behaviour was not associated with a change in patient-perceived empathy, but was associated with a modest improvement in trust in physicians.

Effect of physician attire on patient perceptions of empathy in Japan: a quasi-randomized controlled trial in primary care

Background There is limited quantitative research on the effect of physician attire on patient–physician relationships. This study aimed to measure the influence of Japanese family physicians’ attire on the “human” aspects of medical care in terms of patient-perceived relational empathy. Methods This was a multicenter, prospective, controlled trial conducted in primary clinics in Japan. We explored the effects of family physician attire (white coat vs. casual attire) on patient-perceived empathy. Family physicians were allocated to alternate weeks of wearing a white coat or casual attire during consultations. Patients’ perceptions of physician empathy were evaluated using the self-rated Japanese Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure. We used a linear mixed model to analyze the CARE Measure scores, adjusting for cluster effects of patients nested within doctor, age, and sex of patients, and doctors’ sex and years of clinical experience. We used the same method with Bonferroni adjustment to analyze patient sex differences in perceived empathy. Results A total of 632 patients of seven family physicians were allocated to white coat-wearing consultations (n = 328), and casual attire-wearing consultations (n = 304). There was no difference in CARE Measure scores between white coat and casual primary care consultations overall (p = 0.162). Subgroup analysis of patient sex showed that CARE Measure scores of male patients were significantly higher in the Casual group than in the White coat group (adjusted p-value = 0.044). There was no difference in female patient scores between White coat and Casual groups (adjusted p-value = 1.000). Conclusions This study demonstrated that physician attire (white coat or casual attire) in a primary care setting did not affect patient-perceived relational empathy overall. However, male patients of physicians wearing casual attire reported higher physician empathy. Although empathy cannot be reduced to simple variables such as attire, white coats may have a negative effect on patients, depending on the context. Family physicians should choose their attire carefully. Trial registration Japanese University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN-ICDR). Clinical Trial identifier number UMIN000037687 (Registered August 14, 2019, https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000042749). The study was prospectively registered.

Evaluation of empathy and fatigue among physicians and surgeons in tertiary care hospitals of Rawalpindi

Background and Objectives: Clinicians need to build an astute doctor-patient relationship. The term clinical empathy is the ability of doctor to cognitively appreciate a patient’s perspective, experiences, and deliver such an understanding back to patient. Studies associate high physician empathy with improved patient trust and clinical outcomes. In Pakistan, there is paucity of research data on this relationship. This study assessed the empathy and its relation to fatigue levels among physicians and surgeons. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analytical study involving 262 Physicians and Surgeons (1:1) chosen by convenience sampling method. Physicians and Surgeons were included from three hospitals in Rawalpindi from September 2017 to February 2018 and RAO soft sample calculator was used. The Jefferson Scale for Physician empathy (JSPE) (score range 20-140) and Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) (score range 20-100) were used as data collection tools. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. Statistical tests including T-test and Pearson Correlation were used. Results: Overall, mean score of empathy was found to be 98.8±21.9 (range; 46-138). The empathy in Physicians (106.8±18.3) was found to be greater than Surgeons (89.4±22.1) and the difference was statistically significant (p value <0.01). Mean score of fatigue was 50.6±16.0. The fatigue level in Surgeons was greater than Physicians and the difference was found to be statistically significant (p value < 0.01). Strong negative correlation was observed between empathy and fatigue (r= -0.5, p=<0.01) using Pearson correlation. Conclusion: Overall, physicians had better empathy than surgeons, while fatigue scores were higher among surgeons. Fatigue is associated with empathy decay. This research provides an understanding of empathy deterioration and other factors responsible for it. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.1973 How to cite this:Rashid Z, Sharif I, Khushk IA, Raja AA. Evaluation of empathy and fatigue among physicians and surgeons in tertiary care hospitals of Rawalpindi. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(3):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.3.1973 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Patient Satisfaction and Physician Empathy at a Hellenic Air Force Health Service

ABSTRACT Introduction Patient satisfaction and physician empathy are important indicators of health care services quality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors related to the health care users’ perception about physician empathy and their satisfaction with the services offered by the Medical Department of a Hellenic Air Force Combat Wing Health Service. Materials and Methods One hundred and twenty six individuals who randomly visited the Medical Department from January to February 2019 participated in the survey. The “Measuring the satisfaction of visitors to hospital outpatient clinics” questionnaire by Aletras et al. and the Greek version of the “Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy” questionnaire were used for data collection. Results High satisfaction scores were found in relation to the medical staff (mean 20.45, max 25), the examination room (mean 18.23, max 25), the nursing staff/secretarial support (mean 16.93, max 25), and the overall satisfaction (mean 17.15, max 25). The satisfaction score related to the infirmary was low (mean score 8.8, max 25). Physician empathy score was extremely high (mean 21.2, max 25). Statistically significant correlations were detected between physician empathy satisfaction score and the medical staff, nursing staff/secretarial support, and the overall satisfaction scores (P &lt; .001). Conclusion Health care users reported high physician empathy and overall satisfaction scores but low infirmary satisfaction scores. The more positively that patients evaluated physician empathy, the more satisfaction that patients had with other measures.