Abstract
Purpose
To investigate accident casualties’ long-term subjective evaluation of treatment outcome 6 weeks and 12 months after discharge and its relation to the experienced surgeon’s empathy during hospital treatment after trauma in consideration of patient-, injury-, and health-related factors. The long-term results are compared to the 6-week follow-up outcomes.
Patients and methods
Two hundred and seventeen surgery patients were surveyed at 6 weeks, and 206 patients at 12 months after discharge from the trauma surgical general ward. The subjective evaluation of medical treatment outcome was measured 6 weeks and 12 months after discharge with the respective scale from the Cologne Patient Questionnaire. Physician Empathy was assessed with the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure. The correlation between physician empathy and control variables with the subjective evaluation of medical treatment outcome 12 months after discharge was identified by means of logistic regression analysis under control of sociodemographic and injury-related factors.
Results
One hundred and thirty-six patients were included within the logistic regression analysis at the 12-month follow-up. Compared to the 6-week follow-up, the level of subjective evaluation of medical treatment outcome was slightly lower and the association with physician empathy was weaker. Compared to patients who rated the empathy of their surgeon lower than 31 points, patients with ratings of 41 points or higher had a 4.2-fold higher probability to be in the group with a better medical treatment outcome (3.5 and above) on the Cologne Patient Questionnaire scale 12 months after discharge from hospital (P=0.009, R2=33.5, 95% confidence interval: 1.440–12.629).
Conclusion
Physician empathy is the strongest predictor for a higher level of trauma patients’ subjective evaluation of treatment outcome 6 weeks and 12 months after discharge from the hospital. Interpersonal factors between surgeons and their patients are possible key levers for improving patient outcomes in an advanced health system. Communication trainings for surgeons might prepare them to react appropriately to their patients’ needs and lead to satisfactory outcomes for both parties.
Acknowledgments
The study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, PF 407/2-1). The funding body did not influence any part of the scientific process. We are indebted to DFG und Köln Fortune.
Simone Steinhausen collected and interpreted the data, conducted the analyses, and drafted the manuscript. Holger Pfaff, Oliver Ommen, and Rolf Lefering designed the study and supervised the work together with Edmund Neugebauer. Sonja Thüm and Alexandra Schneider included the patients in the study, and collected and arranged part of the data. Sunya-Lee Antoine revised the manuscript critically and checked the language. Thorsten Koehler revised the manuscript critically and reviewed the statistical analyses. Simone Steinhausen, Oliver Ommen, and Rolf Lefering had full access to all data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Christina Wagner has proofread and revised the manuscript with regard to language. The authors have all read and approved the final version.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.