<p>Effects of Patients’ Perceptions of Physician–Patient Relational Empathy on an Inflammation Marker in Patients with Crohn’s Disease: The Intermediary Roles of Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Sleep Quality</p>

Abstract

Background: Physician-patient empathy is inextricably linked with outcomes of patients. The purpose of this study was to test whether anxiety, self-efficacy, and sleep quality played intermediary roles in relationships between patients' perceptions of physician-patient relational empathy and an inflammation marker in Crohn's disease patients. Methods: The study included 187 patients. At admission (T1) and 3 months after admission (T2), anxiety, self-efficacy, sleep, and the inflammatory marker IL6 of patients were tested and compared. Patients' perceptions of physician-patient relational empathy (CARE scale) was measured at T2. Correlations among patients' anxiety, self-efficacy, sleep quality, IL6, and CARE scores were explored by Pearson's correlation analysis and a structural equation model. Results: Compared with T1, patients showed higher self-efficacy and sleep quality and lower anxiety and IL6 at T2. Patients' perceptions of physician-patient relational empathy were negatively related to anxiety and IL6 and connected to self-efficacy and sleep quality positively. Patients' anxiety, self-efficacy, and sleep quality played intermediary roles incorrelations between empathy and IL6. Conclusion: In correlations of patients' perceptions of physician-patient relational empathy and IL6 in patients with Crohn's disease, patients' anxiety, self-efficacy, and sleep quality acted as intermediary effects. Therefore, medical staff should empathize with patients.

Perceptions of Doctors’ Empathy and Patients’ Subjective Health Status at an Online Clinic: Development of an Empathic Anamnesis Questionnaire

“…In line with the findings from a wealth of face-to-face studies ( 1 – 9 ), we found that doctors’ empathy as rated by the patients was consistently associated with less concern about symptoms and a perception of less severe symptoms after an online encounter. We also found that patients who rated their doctors as more empathic were more likely to report that their symptoms had alleviated.…”

“…Empathy has an important role in doctor-patient encounters. A systematic review of studies published from 1995 to 2011 reported that medical doctors’ empathy supports patient satisfaction, psychological well-being, and better clinical outcomes (1), and later research has been in line with these results (2–9). However, contrasting findings also exist (10).…”

“…By enhancing patients’ experiences of empathy, the care process and patients’ health perceptions could also be supported. Previous studies have shown that patients’ experiences of empathy are associated with both subjectively ( 27 ) and objectively ( 9 , 28 , 29 ) measured health status. Various mechanisms might explain this connection: it is shown that patients of empathic doctors experience less anxiety ( 9 , 30 ), adhere better to the treatment ( 31 ), feel better able to cope with their symptoms ( 4 ), and have improved self-efficacy and sleep quality ( 9 ), all of which might result in more positive health perceptions.…”

Kindness Media Rapidly Inspires Viewers and Increases Happiness, Calm, Gratitude, and Generosity in a Healthcare Setting

“…Burnout is associated with a greater number of medical errors ( Shanafelt et al, 2010 ). Compassionate providers of care, on the other hand, elicit higher compliance with care, such as cancer screening, control of blood glucose in patients with diabetes, or inflammation and outcomes in patients with Crohn’s disease ( O’Malley et al, 2002 , 2004 , 2012 ; Hojat et al, 2011 ; Xu et al, 2020 ). Finally, compassion interventions, per se , may more directly affect disease, such as depression, anxiety, and pain ( Mongrain et al, 2018 ; Austin et al, 2020 ).…”

Patients’ Experiences and Challenges in Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Qualitative Approach

“… 35 These findings are particularly relevant as physician-patient relational empathy has been shown to correlate with patient anxiety, sleep quality, and inflammatory markers. 36 Thus, more research is warranted to determine IBD patients’ perceived levels of support from medical staff and the resulting influence on disease outcomes. This may be particularly relevant in the adult IBD population, as access to social workers and child support workers dwindles upon transitioning from pediatric to adult clinics.…”