Clinician empathy is associated with differences in patient–clinician communication behaviors and higher medication self-efficacy in HIV care

Abstract

Objective We examined associations of clinicians’ empathy with patient-clinician communication behaviors, patients’ rating of care, and medication self-efficacy. Methods We analyzed 435 adult patients and 45 clinicians at four outpatient HIV care sites in the United States. Negative binomial regressions investigated associations between clinician empathy and patient-clinician communication, assessed using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). Logistic regressions investigated associations between clinician empathy and patient ratings of clinician communication, overall satisfaction, and medication self-efficacy. Results Clinicians in the highest vs. lowest empathy tertile engaged in less explicitly emotional talk (IRR 0.79, p<0.05), while clinicians in the middle vs. lowest engaged in more positive talk (IRR 1.31, p<0.05), more questions (IRR 1.42, p<0.05), and more patient activating talk (IRR 1.43, p<0.05). Patients of higher empathy clinicians disclosed more psychosocial and biomedical information. Patients of clinicians in both the middle and highest (vs. lowest) empathy tertiles had greater odds of reporting highest medication self-efficacy (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.16–2.80; OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.37–3.32). Conclusions Clinician empathy may be expressed through addressing patient engagement in care, by fostering cognitive, rather than primarily emotional, processing. Practice Implications Clinicians should consider enhancing their own empathic capacity, which may encourage patients’ self-efficacy in medication adherence.

The Impact of Trust, Interaction, and Empathy in Doctor-Patient Relationship on Patient Satisfaction

“…This result is in keeping with the findings of a previous study, Clinician empathy may be expressed through addressing patient engagement in care [13], Clinicians who use more empathic communication are able to elicit more relevant information from patients about their illnesses and concerns [22], Thus the outcome of this study was important in terms of management practices. Then, the research on the factors that influence patients' decisions to join patient-physician relationship has been compiled through a systematic review of literature.…”

“…Clinicians to better understand the emotions and perspectives of patients [12,13]. Empathy can manifest as behaviors in interpersonal interactions and can be perceived by patients [14,15], Empathic communication behaviors by clinicians have been associated with higher patient satisfaction [16][17][18], compassion and empathy are themes that have been talked about often over the last few years within the health environment [19] is a central aspect of healthcare, and has been associated with positive outcomes not only for the patient [20][21][22].…”

Communication predictors and consequences of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) discussions in oncology visits

“…These communication elements have been associated with facilitation of patient engagement in care [17, 21], patient ratings of feeling respected [18, 19], medication adherence [20], perceived shared decision making [27], therapeutic alliance [17, 32] and improved mental health outcomes [33, 34]. …”

HIV Provider Experiences Engaging and Retaining Patients in HIV Care and Treatment: “A Soft Place to Fall”

“…Enhancing provider communication, including increased empathy for the experiences of patients that influence care, better listening skills, and cultural competency can positively impact engagement and retention in HIV care, including keeping appointments and adherence to ART (Christopoulos et al, 2015; Flickinger 2013, 2016; Saha 2010). Despite challenges, it is widely believed that treatment as prevention offers the greatest potential to alleviate disparities in HIV care and treatment, increase engagement and retention of PLWH in ongoing care, achieve viral suppression, and reduce national rates of HIV transmission (Cohen et al, 2014; Das et al, 2010; Gardner et al, 2011; Mugavero et al, 2011; Skarbinski et al, 2015).…”