Physicians’ Self-Assessed Empathy and Patients’ Perceptions of Physicians’ Empathy: Validation of the Greek Jefferson Scale of Patient Perception of Physician Empathy

• Published in: BioMed research international Vol. 2020; no. 2020; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Katsari, Vasiliki, Domeyer, Philippe-Richard, Tyritidou, Athina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2020; Hindawi; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adult; Anxiety; Attitude of Health Personnel; Cognitive ability; Emotions; Empathy; Female; Greece; Health surveys; Humans; Male; Marital status; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Multivariate analysis; Pain; Patient satisfaction; Patients; Perception; Perceptions; Physician-Patient Relations; Physicians; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Self-Assessment; Sociodemographics; Statistical analysis; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Translations; Validity; Greece
• DOI: 10.1155/2020/9379756
• ISSN: 2314-6133

Aims. This study aims to (i) translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perception of Physician Empathy questionnaire for the Greek population (Gr-JSPPPE) and (ii) estimate physicians’ self-assessed empathy and patients’ perceptions of physicians’ empathy, investigate their relationship, and assess their predictors. Methods. A total of 189 patients and 17 physicians from an internal medicine clinic took part in the study. A composite questionnaire was administered to the patients, consisting of (1) sociodemographic items, (2) hospitalization-related questions, (3) the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, (4) the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), (5) the EQ-5D-5L Questionnaire, (6) the Gr-JSPPPE, and (7) the Visual Analog Scale for pain. The physicians’ composite questionnaire comprised (1) sociodemographic items, (2) the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, and (3) the Toronto Composite Empathy Scale (TCES). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the Gr-JS PPPE. Univariate comparisons were performed between (a) empathy measures and (b) sociodemographic and health-related measures of both groups; multivariate regression analysis for the Gr-JSPPPE adjusting for baseline confounders was executed. Results. Statistically significant negative correlations were found between the Gr-JSPPPE mean score and the TCES personal/cognitive, professional/cognitive, and professional/emotional subscales. Female sex, being married, duration of employment in current post, and physicians’ EQ-5D index score emerged as important predictors of increased physician empathy. Patients’ EQ-VAS “thermometer” scale was significantly associated with the Gr-JSPPPE total score at the multivariate level. Conclusion. The Gr-JSPPPE is a psychometrically sound tool to assess patient perceptions of physician empathy. Physician empathy assessed by the self-reported scale is inversely associated with patient perceptions.