Duration of daily In-Patient contact; A determinant of Empathy level among Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Background: Empathy is a core attribute in medical professionals, an essential part of effective understanding and communication among the patient and healthcare professional, and a guarantor of better patient outcomes. Developing a sense of empathy development among healthcare professionals may be fundamental to developing ways to promote this crucial trait.
Objective: It is aimed to study the association of duration of daily in-patient contact with empathy levels among healthcare professionals.
Methodology: This cross-sectional analysis was conducted upon a sample of 114 healthcare professionals (chosen via non-probability - consecutive sampling) at two public sector – tertiary care teaching hospitals in Hyderabad and Jamshoro. After taking written informed consent, data were collected using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire comprising of questions pertaining to basic biodata, sociodemographic details, professional credentials (i.e., field, designation, work experience, etc.), and particulars of the daily work routine and duration of daily in-patient contact. Empathy was assessed using the "Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Health Professions Version" (Urdu translation). The data obtained was analyzed using SPSS v. 21.0 & Microsoft Excel 360.
Results: The mean age of the sample stood at 34 years (SD ± 07). 56.1% of the sample comprised males, while 43.9% were females. The types and tiers of professional designations of the respondents included nursing staff (18.42%), trainee doctors (77.1%), and senior consultants (4.48%). The cumulative mean duration of daily in-patient contact stood at 2.5 hours (SD ± 1.5). The mean duration of in-patient contact notably decreased with increasing seniority and climbing up tiers of professional designation. Synonymously, empathy levels too mirrored a similar trend.
Conclusion: Empathy, a component of interpersonal relationships, seems to thrive when a more prolonged, more sustained contact between the patient and the healthcare professional. Based on our results, it is evident that greater daily patient contact is strongly associated with higher empathy levels. It is thus recommended that more communication be encouraged to foster empathy, which may likely yield many benefits.