Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Patient-Physician Interaction Scores of Clinical Performance Examination

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the correlation between communication skills for emotional empathy and academic achievement on the Clinical Performance Examination (CPX). Methods: One hundred twelve medical school students were observed to determine the extent to which they applied communication skills for emotional empathy (preparation stage: interview attitude, respect; rapport stage: encouragement, active listening, will for support; empathy stage: verbal expression empathy, nonverbal expression empathy, acceptance) to the CPX, as well as their level of understanding of these skills to calculate the Pearson r, which can be used to determine the correlation between communication skills and academic achievement (hematochezia, fatigue, abnormal menstruation, chest pain, alcohol problems). Results: Male students had higher scores than females for all communicational skills except verbal expression empathy. Fourth-year students had statistically more significant correlations than third-year students with regard to the rapport stage 'active listening' and empathy stage 'nonverbal expression' and abnormal menstruation and chest pain. Correlations were also more significant for hematochezia in the preparation stage 'interview attitude,' rapport stage 'encouragement,' and empathy stages 'verbal and nonverbal expression' and 'acceptance.' The empathy stage 'nonverbal expressions' was more significant for fourth-year students with alcohol problems. Third-year students largely had negative correlations between emotional empathy communication skills and CPX academic achievement, especially between the preparation stage 'respect' and abnormal menstruation, and between the rapport stage 'encouragement' and hematochezia. Conclusion: There was a significant correlation between hematochezia, wherein MS students deliver bad news to patients, and communication skills for emotional empathy.

Validating relationships among attachment, emotional intelligence and clinical communication

“…A psychological characteristic related to attachment style, which has also been tentatively linked to PPC, is an individual's EI. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] Emotional intelligence is the capacity that enables an individual to perceive, use, understand and manage his or her own and others' emotions 35 and develops in childhood, partly as a function of attachment style. 36 Emotional intelligence may help doctors to simultaneously correctly identify patients' emotional distress, manage their own emotions and intervene appropriately during medical consultations.…”

“…However, attachment styles cannot easily be modified and therefore if attachment influences PPC, the resulting educational implications may amount simply to educating students about its possible influence. A psychological characteristic related to attachment style, which has also been tentatively linked to PPC, is an individual's EI …”

Understanding medical students’ empathy based on Enneagram personality types

“…The Feeling triad exhibits better immediacy in facilitative communication, and such individuals tend to use more noticing and companioning in interpersonal caring behaviour [34,35]. Emotional intelligence has a key influence on the patient –physician interaction [36]. Therefore, in terms of communication education, encouraging students to develop feeling-centred characteristics may be helpful for enhancing the CC domain of empathy.…”

Investigation on the Correlation Between Humanistic Care Ability and Emotional Intelligence of Hospital Staff

“…Weng (10,11) showed that doctors with higher emotional intelligence could gain higher trust from patients. A study in South Korea (12) used the dimensions of emotional perception, emotional expression, and empathy in emotional intelligence for the prediction of the doctor-patient relationship. Compared with patients with negative emotions, such as irritability, anxiety, and depression, individuals with high emotional intelligence, could better respond, understand, and feel patients' inner emotional experience from the perspective of patients and were more likely to resonate with patients (13).…”