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- Takashi Watari, Nathan Houchens, Tomoe Otsuka, Takeshi Endo, Seiji Odagawa, Yasuhisa Nakano, Hitomi Kataoka, Mamoru Miwa, Daisaku Yamasaki, Yasuharu Tokuda, Yoshihiko Shiraishi, and Kota Sakaguchi.
- General Medicine Center, Shimane University Hospital, Izumo city, Shimane 693-8501, Japan.
- Postgrad Med J. 2023 Nov 20; 99 (1178): 125812651258-1265.
Purpose Of StudyA physician's ability to empathize is crucial for patient health outcomes, and this differs according to speciality, personal characteristics, and environmental factors. This study aimed to examine the empathy levels among physicians based on their specialities and to identify the influencing factors.Study DesignA nationwide, online, cross-sectional survey was conducted using the Nikkei Business Publication online physician member homepage. Participants were 5441 physicians in Japan registered as members of Nikkei Medical Online across 20 specialities. We used the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) to measure the physicians' empathy levels. Cronbach's alpha was 0.84.ResultsThe mean JSE score was 100.05, SD = 15.75. Multivariate analyses showed that the highest JSE scores were for general medicine [+5.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.60-8.56], general surgery (+3.63, 95% CI 0.97-6.28), psychiatry (+3.47, 95% CI 1.76-5.17), and paediatrics (+1.92, 95% CI 0.11-3.73). Factors associated with higher JSE scores were being female (+5.86, 95% CI 4.68-7.04), managers (+1.11, 95% CI 0.16-2.07), working in a small hospital (+2.19, 95% CI 0.23-4.15), and with children (+3.32, 95% CI 2.29-4.36).ConclusionsA significant decrease in the empathy levels was found when the parent of the participant was also a medical provider. Being a general medicine physician or a female physician in a high position who has children was positively and significantly correlated with high empathy levels.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Postgraduate Medical Journal. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
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