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Measuring compassion in physician assistants
Karen O Skaff1, Christopher P Toumey, Doris Rapp
1Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA.
Summary
Defining and measuring physician assistant (PA) compassion is challenging. Patient feedback validated communication aspects of PA compassion but not others, with further studies addressing question wording and setting intimacy effects.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Healthcare Professionalism
- Patient-Provider Communication
Background:
- Compassion is a critical physician assistant (PA) competency.
- Existing definitions and measurement tools for PA compassion are insufficient.
- Understanding patient perceptions of PA compassion is vital for quality care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore and define the compassionate qualities of physician assistants (PAs).
- To develop and validate measures of PA compassion from both PA and patient perspectives.
- To identify key communication elements that patients perceive as compassionate in PA interactions.
Main Methods:
- A series of studies involving surveys of PAs and their patients.
- PAs self-assessed their compassionate qualities.
- Patients assessed the same qualities in their PAs, followed by analysis of question wording and setting effects.
Main Results:
- Patients validated three specific elements of compassion related to PA-patient communication.
- Seven other proposed elements of compassion were not validated by patient assessments.
- Subsequent research identified a halo effect from question wording and a confounding effect from medical setting intimacy.
Conclusions:
- PA compassion is complex and not fully captured by current self-assessment or initial patient-reported measures.
- Communication skills are a key validated component of perceived PA compassion.
- Further refinement of measurement tools is needed, considering potential biases like the halo effect and setting intimacy.