Abstract
A physician’s empathetic attitude is regarded as an important influencing factor towards patient satisfaction. However, physicians’ self-assessed empathy declines during medical school and through residency, which may limit patient satisfaction in the doctor-patient contact. In conse-quence, we hypothesized that residents might fail in generating high levels of patient satisfaction. We conducted an observational study in the setting of a pre-anesthetic assessment center, Univer-sity Hospital Leipzig, Germany. Patient satisfaction was measured using the overall ZUF-8 score (8 - 32 points; increasing with patient satisfaction). Data were collected by questionnaires (ZUF-8 items, additional satisfaction items, and items of organizational and logistical processes). Key items for patient satisfaction as primary endpoints were defined. Statistical evaluation was performed in dependency of the anesthesiologists’ level of training (residents vs. consultants) by using the Mann-Whitney-U test or the chi square test, as required. Statistical significance was accepted for p < 0.05. In total, 2565 patients were assessed for eligibility. 986 patients met the criteria of inclusion. 978 questionnaires were submitted with 517 questionnaires being excluded because of missing values. Finally, 461 questionnaires could be analysed. Both residents and consultants achieved a high level of patient satisfaction. The ZUF-8-scores were comparable between the groups (p = 0.91), whilst the quality of consultation was rated slightly better by patients being assessed by residents (p = 0.047). The results in additional satisfaction items were comparable between the groups. We found a trend in residents assessing to be rated more friendly. Residents are able to generate a high level of patient satisfaction which is comparable to that of consultants with scores ranging between “good” and “very good”. Small albeit significant differences in favor of residents underline the quality of their performance in pre-anesthetic patient assessment.
Highlights
In the future, patient satisfaction will gain a greater role in quality assessment in healthcare
Whilst high levels of patient satisfaction are based on the empathy of the care givers [4]-[6], physicians’ self-assessed empathy seems to decline during residency, which might be due to an increase in daily distress during their clinical practice phase [7] [8]
The two groups being compared differed in the number of patients analyzed, and in the number of physicians involved. 370 patients were assessed by 28 residents, while 91 patients were consulted by 33 consultants
Summary
Patient satisfaction will gain a greater role in quality assessment in healthcare. Patients do function as recipients of medical treatment, but are actively involved in their individual healing processes. It seems self-evident that a high level of patient satisfaction may increase compliance and show beneficial effects on clinical outcome [1] [2]. Whilst high levels of patient satisfaction are based on the empathy of the care givers [4]-[6], physicians’ self-assessed empathy seems to decline during residency, which might be due to an increase in daily distress during their clinical practice phase [7] [8]
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