{"title":"Relationship Between Clinician Empathy and Perceived Racial Discrimination in Simulated Encounters","authors":"Nicoy Downie MD, Keonna Hyacinth BS, Rachel Aideyan BS, Elizabeth Chuang MD MPH","doi":"10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2025.02.060","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Outcomes</h3><div>1. Identify the importance of reducing clinician implicit bias in the end-of-life setting.</div><div>2. Identify key limitations in the understanding of empathy and its relationship to communication in the end-of-life setting.</div></div><div><h3>Key Message</h3><div>Clinician implicit bias causes decreased quality of communication in end of life (EOL) care for minoritized patients. Implicit bias is mitigated by perspective-taking which may increase empathy for the outgroup. This small study did not show a relationship between physician empathy and perceived discrimination during a standardized EOL communication. Understanding the relationship between empathy and communication requires more targeted measurement.</div></div><div><h3>Abstract</h3><div>Physician implicit racial bias can result in poor communication patterns and inequitable end-of-life (EOL) care. Perspective-taking is a key component of evidence-based bias mitigation strategies. It may function by increasing empathy towards the outgroup. However, the effect of empathy on patient and family outcomes remains unknown.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>To assess the relationship between physicians’ empathy and perceived racial discrimination and communication in simulated encounters with Black standardized caregivers.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Physicians caring for seriously ill patients in the hospital completed a simulated encounter with a Black standardized caregiver (patient's daughter). Physicians’ empathy was assessed using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and physicians self-reported their communication skill level. Standardized caregivers completed the Discrimination in Medical Settings and CollaborRATE scales to measure perceived discrimination and communication. We used general linear modeling to evaluate these relationships controlling for physician gender, race, ethnicity and specialty.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Forty-two physicians were included. 22 were women (52%), 15 internists (36%), 14 intensivists (33%) and 7 oncologists (17%). Most were White (23, 55%) or Asian (15, 36%). Four identified as Hispanic (10%). There was a weak correlation (<em>r</em> = 0.24, <em>P</em> = 0.12) between physician empathy and CollaborRATE scores. There were no correlations between physician empathy and perceived discrimination (<em>r</em> = 0.12, <em>P</em> = 0.44) or between physician self-reported communication skills and perceived discrimination (<em>r</em> = -0.05, <em>P</em> = 0.74) or CollaborRATE score (<em>r</em> = 0.01, <em>P</em> = 0.94). These results did not change when controlling for potential confounders.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The lack of correlation between empathy and perceived discrimination does not support empathy as a key target for reducing the effects of implicit bias. However, this study is limited by the small sample size and measurement of global empathy rather than empathy towards a specific out-group. The weak correlation of empathy with CollaborRATE score suggests empathy may affect general communication. More targeted measurement may be required to better understand the relationship between empathy communication outcomes.</div></div><div><h3>References</h3><div>Barnato, A.E. et al. (2009) ‘Racial and ethnic differences in preferences for end-of-life treatment’, Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24(6), pp. 695–701. doi:10.1007/s11606-009-0952-6. Johnson, K.S. et al. (2013) ‘Race and residence: Intercounty variation in black-white differences in hospice use’, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 46(5), pp. 681–690. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.12.006. Shih, M.J., Stotzer, R. and Gutiérrez, A.S. (2013) ‘Perspective-taking and empathy: Generalizing the reduction of group bias towards Asian Americans to general outgroups.’, Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(2), pp. 79–83. doi:10.1037/a0029790. Smith-Howell, E.R. et al. (2016) ‘End-of-life decision making and communication of bereaved family members of African Americans with serious illness’, Journal of Palliative Medicine, 19(2), pp. 174–182. doi:10.1089/jpm.2015.0314. Welch, L.C., Teno, J.M. and Mor, V. (2005) ‘End‐of‐Life care in black and white: Race matters for medical care of dying patients and their families’, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53(7), pp. 1145–1153. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53357.x.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16634,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pain and symptom management","volume":"69 5","pages":"Pages e446-e447"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of pain and symptom management","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885392425001204","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Outcomes
1. Identify the importance of reducing clinician implicit bias in the end-of-life setting.
2. Identify key limitations in the understanding of empathy and its relationship to communication in the end-of-life setting.
Key Message
Clinician implicit bias causes decreased quality of communication in end of life (EOL) care for minoritized patients. Implicit bias is mitigated by perspective-taking which may increase empathy for the outgroup. This small study did not show a relationship between physician empathy and perceived discrimination during a standardized EOL communication. Understanding the relationship between empathy and communication requires more targeted measurement.
Abstract
Physician implicit racial bias can result in poor communication patterns and inequitable end-of-life (EOL) care. Perspective-taking is a key component of evidence-based bias mitigation strategies. It may function by increasing empathy towards the outgroup. However, the effect of empathy on patient and family outcomes remains unknown.
Objectives
To assess the relationship between physicians’ empathy and perceived racial discrimination and communication in simulated encounters with Black standardized caregivers.
Methods
Physicians caring for seriously ill patients in the hospital completed a simulated encounter with a Black standardized caregiver (patient's daughter). Physicians’ empathy was assessed using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and physicians self-reported their communication skill level. Standardized caregivers completed the Discrimination in Medical Settings and CollaborRATE scales to measure perceived discrimination and communication. We used general linear modeling to evaluate these relationships controlling for physician gender, race, ethnicity and specialty.
Results
Forty-two physicians were included. 22 were women (52%), 15 internists (36%), 14 intensivists (33%) and 7 oncologists (17%). Most were White (23, 55%) or Asian (15, 36%). Four identified as Hispanic (10%). There was a weak correlation (r = 0.24, P = 0.12) between physician empathy and CollaborRATE scores. There were no correlations between physician empathy and perceived discrimination (r = 0.12, P = 0.44) or between physician self-reported communication skills and perceived discrimination (r = -0.05, P = 0.74) or CollaborRATE score (r = 0.01, P = 0.94). These results did not change when controlling for potential confounders.
Conclusion
The lack of correlation between empathy and perceived discrimination does not support empathy as a key target for reducing the effects of implicit bias. However, this study is limited by the small sample size and measurement of global empathy rather than empathy towards a specific out-group. The weak correlation of empathy with CollaborRATE score suggests empathy may affect general communication. More targeted measurement may be required to better understand the relationship between empathy communication outcomes.
References
Barnato, A.E. et al. (2009) ‘Racial and ethnic differences in preferences for end-of-life treatment’, Journal of General Internal Medicine, 24(6), pp. 695–701. doi:10.1007/s11606-009-0952-6. Johnson, K.S. et al. (2013) ‘Race and residence: Intercounty variation in black-white differences in hospice use’, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 46(5), pp. 681–690. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.12.006. Shih, M.J., Stotzer, R. and Gutiérrez, A.S. (2013) ‘Perspective-taking and empathy: Generalizing the reduction of group bias towards Asian Americans to general outgroups.’, Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(2), pp. 79–83. doi:10.1037/a0029790. Smith-Howell, E.R. et al. (2016) ‘End-of-life decision making and communication of bereaved family members of African Americans with serious illness’, Journal of Palliative Medicine, 19(2), pp. 174–182. doi:10.1089/jpm.2015.0314. Welch, L.C., Teno, J.M. and Mor, V. (2005) ‘End‐of‐Life care in black and white: Race matters for medical care of dying patients and their families’, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53(7), pp. 1145–1153. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53357.x.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management is an internationally respected, peer-reviewed journal and serves an interdisciplinary audience of professionals by providing a forum for the publication of the latest clinical research and best practices related to the relief of illness burden among patients afflicted with serious or life-threatening illness.