Short- and long-term subjective medical treatment outcome of trauma surgery patients: the importance of physician empathy

Abstract

PurposeTo investigate accident casualties’ long-term subjective evaluation of treatment outcome 6 weeks and 12 months after discharge and its relation to the experienced surgeon’s empathy during hospital treatment after trauma in consideration of patient-, injury-, and health-related factors. The long-term results are compared to the 6-week follow-up outcomes.Patients and methodsTwo hundred and seventeen surgery patients were surveyed at 6 weeks, and 206 patients at 12 months after discharge from the trauma surgical general ward. The subjective evaluation of medical treatment outcome was measured 6 weeks and 12 months after discharge with the respective scale from the Cologne Patient Questionnaire. Physician Empathy was assessed with the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure. The correlation between physician empathy and control variables with the subjective evaluation of medical treatment outcome 12 months after discharge was identified by means of logistic regression analysis under control of sociodemographic and injury-related factors.ResultsOne hundred and thirty-six patients were included within the logistic regression analysis at the 12-month follow-up. Compared to the 6-week follow-up, the level of subjective evaluation of medical treatment outcome was slightly lower and the association with physician empathy was weaker. Compared to patients who rated the empathy of their surgeon lower than 31 points, patients with ratings of 41 points or higher had a 4.2-fold higher probability to be in the group with a better medical treatment outcome (3.5 and above) on the Cologne Patient Questionnaire scale 12 months after discharge from hospital (P=0.009, R2=33.5, 95% confidence interval: 1.440–12.629).ConclusionPhysician empathy is the strongest predictor for a higher level of trauma patients’ subjective evaluation of treatment outcome 6 weeks and 12 months after discharge from the hospital. Interpersonal factors between surgeons and their patients are possible key levers for improving patient outcomes in an advanced health system. Communication trainings for surgeons might prepare them to react appropriately to their patients’ needs and lead to satisfactory outcomes for both parties.

Impact of perceived weight stigma among underserved women on doctor–patient relationships

“…Empathy can be defined as 'an ability to (i) understand the patient's situation, perspective and feelings (and their attached meanings); (ii) communicate that understanding and check its accuracy; and (iii) act on that understanding with the patient in a helpful (therapeutic) way' (20). Empathy has been shown to correlate with patient enablement (21-23), patient satisfaction (24,25) and improved health outcomes in a wide range of clinical settings (23,(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31). To date, research is lacking that evaluates the association of BMI and patients' experiences of weight stigma in health care with their perception of physician empathy.…”

Medical Student Interpretation of Visual Art: Who's Got Empathy?

“…When doctors demonstrate empathy, patients are less anxious (Fogarty et al, 1999), and diagnostic accuracy is improved, leading to better treatment planning and patient adherence to treatment regimen (Zolnierek, 2009;Hojat et al, 2011b). One study of surgical outcomes concluded that surgeon empathy had a significantly positive indirect effect on patient satisfaction through its relationship to patients' self-reported health status (Weng, 2011); while another study concluded that physician empathy predicted patients' perceived medical outcomes (Steinhausen et al, 2014). Other research found that patients with diabetes who perceive their physicians as empathetic have lower HA1C scores, improved low-density lipoprotein (Hojat et al,2011b), and fewer acute metabolic complications (Del Canale et al,2012), as well as improved self-management skills (Sultan et al, 2011).…”

Taking Humanism Back to the Bedside

“…2 Humanism is a way of being defined by the characteristics of empathy, altruism, and compassion. 3 6 and improved adherence to an agreed-upon plan of care. 7 When coupled with the observations highlighting the decline of empathy among learners 8 and the missed opportunities for demonstrating empathy among practicing physicians, 9 it becomes essential for us to consciously role model and teach humanistic values to learners.…”