Evaluation of Medical Students’ Orientations in the Patient-Physician Relationship and Empathy Levels

Abstract

Today, a patient-centered approach that takes into account the psychosocial dimensions of health and promotes patient parrticipation and partnership in the patient relationship is becoming increasingly important. It is aimed to determine the orientations in the patient-physician relationship and some variables thought to be related to it, and to assess the level of empathy among medical students. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1169 medical students at the Faculty of Medicine at Eskişehir Osmangazi University (ESOGU) between May-June 2022. In the study, the Patient-Physician Orientation Scale (PPOS) was used to measure the students’ orientations in the patient-physician relationship and the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE) was used to measurement empathy levels. Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis tests, Spearman correlation and Multiple Linear Regression analyses were used. Of the participants, 606 (51.8%) were male and 679 (58.1%) were in their preclinical years. Their ages ranged between 18-52 years with a mean of 21.48±1.96 years. The participants' scores on the PPOS ranged between 1.36-5.36 with a mean score of 3.68±0.54 points, while the scores on the JPES ranged between 44-135 with a mean score of 96.5±14.18 points. It was found that there was a weak positive correlation between the scores obtained from the PPOS and the scores obtained from the JPES (r=0.297, p<0.001). As a result of multiple linear regression analysis, it was found that having a Type B personality, participating in any training/activity related to the patient-physician relationship and an increased level of empathy were associated with scores obtained from PPOS (F=17.784, p<0.001). Although medical students' orientations in the patient-physician relationship was found to be closer to patient-centeredness, it was not at the expected level.