Differences in empathy levels among physicians based on specialty: a nationwide cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Physician empathy is critical for effective patient care and health outcomes.
• Empathy levels can be influenced by medical specialty, individual characteristics, and work environment.
• Understanding these variations is key to improving physician-patient relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate empathy levels among physicians across various medical specialities.
• To identify personal and environmental factors associated with physician empathy.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was administered to 5441 physicians in Japan.
• The Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) was used to measure empathy.
• Data were analyzed using multivariate analyses to identify influencing factors.

Main Results:

• The mean JSE score was 100.05 (SD=15.75).
• Highest empathy scores were observed in general medicine, general surgery, psychiatry, and pediatrics.
• Being female, a manager, working in a small hospital, and having children were associated with higher empathy.

Conclusions:

• Physician empathy is influenced by a complex interplay of specialty, gender, professional role, and personal life.
• A notable finding was a decrease in empathy when a participant's parent was also a medical provider.
• General medicine physicians, female physicians in leadership roles, and those with children exhibited significantly higher empathy.