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Empathic and Sympathetic Orientations Toward Patient Care: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Psychometrics.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21694570     Owner:  NLM     Status:  Publisher    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
PURPOSE: To develop instruments for measuring empathic and sympathetic orientations in patient care and to provide evidence in support of their psychometrics. METHOD: Third-year medical students at Jefferson Medical College responded to four clinical vignettes in 2010. For each vignette, students indicated the extent of their agreement with an empathic response (conveying their understanding of patients' concerns) and with a sympathetic response (sharing patients' feelings). The authors calculated, based on students' responses to the clinical vignettes, two measures of empathic and sympathetic orientation. Students also completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). RESULTS: Of the 258 students in the class, 201 (78%) responded to all four vignettes and completed the JSE and IRI. The authors confirmed construct validity of the measures of empathic and sympathetic orientation through factor analysis. The empathic orientation was significantly associated with the measure of empathy (as measured by the JSE) but not with measures of sympathy (as measured by specific scales of the IRI). Conversely, sympathetic orientation was significantly associated with measures of sympathy. Thus, these results support the validity of the empathic and sympathetic orientation measures as assessed by four clinical vignettes. Coefficient alphas for the two measures were, respectively, 0.79 and 0.84. CONCLUSIONS: The validated measures of empathic and sympathetic orientation provide research opportunities to enhance the understanding of the contributions of empathy and sympathy to physicians' competence and patient outcomes.
Authors:
Mohammadreza Hojat; John Spandorfer; Daniel Z Louis; Joseph S Gonnella
Publication Detail:
Type:  JOURNAL ARTICLE     Date:  2011-6-20
Journal Detail:
Title:  Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges     Volume:  -     ISSN:  1938-808X     ISO Abbreviation:  -     Publication Date:  2011 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-6-22     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8904605     Medline TA:  Acad Med     Country:  -    
Other Details:
Languages:  ENG     Pagination:  -     Citation Subset:  -    
Affiliation:
Dr. Hojat is research professor of psychiatry and human behavior, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and director, Jefferson Longitudinal Study of Medical Education, Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Spandorfer is associate professor of medicine and Roger Daniels associate dean for professionalism in medicine, Department of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Louis is managing director, Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care, and associate professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gonnella is dean emeritus, distinguished professor of medicine, and founder and director, Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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