Physician empathy during crisis: A survey of doctors in COVID-19 pandemic (COPE study)

There is a lack of research studies on physician empathy levels towards patients, which is a critical component of providing high-quality patient-care and satisfaction. Our study aimed at assessing the physician-reported empathy levels towards patients during a crisis like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Cross-sectional online-based survey was conducted among 409 practicing doctors from varied healthcare levels during the pandemic. We used a validated Jefferson Physician's Empathy (JPE) - Health Professional (HP) version questionnaire. Empathy score was expressed as a median and interquartile range, and the analysis was done in STATA 12.1 (StataCorp LP, Texas, USA).

Among the survey respondents, 55% were between 26-35 years, 56% were from the government health sector, and 57% were male doctors. Overall physicians' empathy score was 100 (89, 113). The empathy score among physicians engaged in OPD duty was significantly higher (p = 0.022). A total of 70.0% of physicians consulting more than 50 patients/day reported a score ≤105 (p = 0.035). Physicians aged more than 40 years (AOR = 2.545, 95% CI = 1.1133, 5.8184) and those working in government healthcare centers (AOR = 2.711, 95% CI = 1.1372, 6.4616) were about three times more likely to have a score >105 compared to younger physicians (p = 0.027) and private practitioners (p = 0.024).

Physician-reported empathy scores during the COVID pandemic were high. Middle-aged physicians involved in OPD consultation and those working in government healthcare recorded good scores. However, reporting lower empathy scores when the patient load increases highlights the need for administrative and medical education interventions.