Association Between Physician Empathy and Difficult Patient Encounters: a Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Patient-Physician Relationship
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Physicians commonly report experiencing difficult patient encounters.
• This study investigates the relationship between physician empathy and the frequency of these challenging interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between physician empathy levels and the occurrence of difficult patient encounters (DPEs).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 18 generalist physicians.
• Physicians were categorized into low and high empathy groups using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE).
• Difficult Doctor-Patient Relationship Questionnaire-10 (DDPRQ-10) was used to assess DPEs, with scores >= 31 indicating difficulty. Multilevel logistic regression models were employed for analysis.

Main Results:

• Physicians in the high empathy group (n=10) experienced significantly fewer DPEs (11%) compared to the low empathy group (n=8) (23%).
• A significant inverse correlation was found between JSE scores and DDPRQ-10 scores (r = -0.22, p < 0.01).
• The odds of experiencing DPEs were lower for physicians with higher empathy (OR: 0.37; 95% CI = 0.19-0.72, p = 0.004).

Conclusions:

• Higher physician empathy is associated with a reduced likelihood of experiencing difficult patient encounters.
• Empathy is a crucial factor influencing physicians' perception of encounter difficulty.