Articles: empathy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Empathy Unmasked: Patient Perception of Physician Empathy in an Oncologic Emergency Setting. A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Personal Protective Equipment Wear versus Unmasked Video Communication.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine emerged as an important option that supports and facilitates clinical practice, however, its usefulness in emergency settings that treat patients with cancer is unclear. ⋯ Cancer patients presenting to the emergency department perceive empathy and compassion equally when approached by physicians virtually without PPE or in person while wearing PPE. Virtual services for specific aspects of clinical practice during emergency department visits in an oncology setting can be implemented to ensure safer interactions between patients and physicians without compromising the physician-patient relationship.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A Preliminary Investigation into the Use of Cannabis Suppositories and Online Mindful Compassion for Improving Sexual Function Among Women Following Gynaecological Cancer Treatment.
Background and Objectives: The impact of gynaecological cancer and its treatments on sexual intimacy can be profound on female sexuality. However, very few registered clinical trials have addressed sexual intimacy among this cohort. Materials and Methods: This preliminary randomised control trial (RCT) and content analysis assessed the effectiveness of a brief online mindful compassion group intervention adjunct with cannabis suppositories. ⋯ Feedback suggested that cannabis mediated the effects of mindful compassion and supported well-being, sexual self-efficacy, and quality of life. Participants also voiced a preference for cannabis suppositories when using dilators as part of their treatment and the use of sex toys instead of dilators, suggesting that dilators had negatively impacted their sexuality. Conclusions: These preliminary and exploratory outcomes look promising and provide a foundation for future research to develop varied healthcare options to improve mental health service delivery and quality of life for this cohort.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Tramadol effects on brain activity during cognitive and emotional empathy for pain: a randomized controlled study.
Pain is perceived not only by personal experience but also vicariously. Pain empathy is the ability to share and understand other's intentions and emotions in their painful conditions, which can be divided into cognitive and emotional empathy. It remains unclear how centrally acting analgesics would modulate brain activity related to pain empathy and which component of pain empathy would be altered by analgesics. ⋯ Supramarginal gyrus activation correlated negatively with the thermal pain threshold. In experiment 2, we found that tramadol decreased activation in angular gyrus in cognitive empathy for pain compared with placebo but did not change brain activity in emotional empathy for pain. PERSPECTIVE: Centrally acting analgesics such as tramadol may have not only analgesic effects on self-experienced pain but also on the complex neural processing of pain empathy.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Sep 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialOutcome Expectancies, Effects, and Mechanisms of Brief Training in Mindfulness Meditation vs. Loving-Kindness Meditation vs a Control Condition for Pain Management: A Randomized Pilot Study.
This study investigated the analgesic effects of a single session of mindfulness meditation (MM) and loving-kindness meditation (LKM) relative to a control. A total of 100 adults with chronic or current problematic pain completed a survey and were randomized to a 20-minute MM, LKM, or audiobook control. Co-primary outcomes of pain intensity and unpleasantness and mediators of mindfulness and self-compassion were assessed pre- and posttraining. ⋯ Pain type was a nonsignificant covariate. Overall, MM and LKM were associated with positive expectancies and small-medium pain intensity reductions, which did not differ by pain type. Although MM and LKM were associated with changes in theorized mediators, these changes did not underlie improvement.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Empathic Communication in Specialty Palliative Care Encounters: An Analysis of Opportunities and Responses.
Background: Although empathic responding is considered a core competency in specialty palliative care (PC), patterns of empathic communication in PC encounters are not well understood. Objectives: In this secondary analysis, we delineate types and frequency of empathic communication and examine relationships between patient empathic opportunities and clinician responses. Design: We used the Empathic Communication Coding System to analyze empathic opportunities across three types: emotion (i.e., negative affective state), progress (i.e., stated recent positive life event or development), and challenge (i.e., stated problem or recent, negative life-changing event) and clinician responses. ⋯ Conclusions: PC patients frequently express emotions, share progress, or divulge challenges as empathic opportunities. Clinicians often convey empathy in response and can differentiate their empathic responses based on the type of empathic opportunity. PC communication research and training should explore which empathic responses promote desired patient outcomes.