Communication and health: doctor-patient relationship in patients with multimorbidity, an exploratory study

Abstract

Background. With the increase of average life expectancy and the aging of the population, an increase in multimorbidity has also been observed. Effective communication in the doctor–patient relationship is directly related to the promotion of health of patients with multimorbidity. One of the fundamental foundations of this doctor–patient relationship is the physician’s ability to establish an empathic relationship with the patient. Objectives. The objective of this study is to compare Family Medicine consultations and Hospital consultations in terms of empathic communication and the doctor–patient relationship in patients with multimorbidity. Material and methods. An exploratory observational cross-sectional study was carried out using elderly people with multimorbidity and applying the JSPE scale. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test. Results. For all questions on the JSPE scale, the family physician scored higher than the hospital physician. Between the specialties, statistically significant differences were obtained. Conclusions. The differences between Family Medicine consultations and Hospital consultations has an impact on the results of the medical empathy felt by the patients. Other studies demonstrate the importance of empathy in the doctor–patient relationship, and in this study, we concluded that there is a greater degree of empathy felt by the patients in Family Medicine consultations compared to the lower degree of empathy felt by the patients in Hospital consultations.