Factors affecting Saudi hemodialysis patients' perception of healthcare providers' empathy

We aimed to assess the empathy level of healthcare providers as perceived by hemodialysis (HD) patients and its determinants.

This survey included 100 hemodialysis patients from two major dialysis units in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Units A and B). Patients were asked to score their perception of empathy by health care providers in 13 areas using 1 to 5 Likert Scale.

Unit "A" contained more patients with diabetic nephropathy than unit "A". Unit "B" contained a higher number of native Arabic speaking nurses and its patients had longer mean duration on dialysis compared to unit "A". The overall score given for doctors empathy was 81.6% (84.5% for Unit "A" doctors and 78.8% for Unit "B" doctors (P=0.01). The overall score given for nurses empathy was 73.6% (76.2% for Unit "A" nurses and 70.9% for Unit "B" nurses (P=0.002). Female patients' perception of empathy was significantly greater than male patients in 8 out of 13 questions. Older patients gave higher score than younger patients. Patients with lower educational level perceived higher empathy levels than patients with higher education. Significantly lower scores were given by patients who received their dialysis treatment at night. We observed no differences in scores in relation to patients' duration on dialysis, diabetic status or Charlson Co-morbidity Index (CCI).

Empathy goes beyond the language barrier. Patients dialyzed in evening shifts perceive less empathy from healthcare workers. The higher scores given by older, female and less educated patients might simply reflect their lower expectation of empathy.