Stewart W Mercer|Bhautesh Jani|Margaret Maxwell|Samuel Y. S. Wong|Graham Watt
Patient enablement requires physician empathy: a cross-sectional study of general practice consultations in areas of high and low socioeconomic deprivation in Scotland
University of Glasgow|University of Glasgow|University of Stirling|Chinese University of Hong Kong|University of Glasgow
patient enablement term closely aligned empowerment measurement general practice consultation operationalised widely used patient enablement instrument pei patientrated measure consultation outcome however limited knowledge regarding factors influence enablement particularly effect socioeconomic deprivation aim study assess factors influencing patient enablement gp consultations areas high low deprivation questionnaire study carried 3044 patients attending 26 gps 16 areas high socioeconomic deprivation 10 low deprivation areas west scotland patient expectation confidence doctor would able help recorded prior consultation pei gp empathy measured care measure range measures variables recorded consultation data analysis employed multilevel modelling multivariate analyses pei dependant variable although numerous variables showed univariate association patient enablement four factors independently predictive multilevel multivariate analysis patients multimorbidity 3 longterm conditions reflecting poor chronic general health consulting longstanding problem reduced enablement scores affluent deprived areas deprived areas emotional distress ghqcaseness additional negative effect enablement perceived gp empathy positive effect enablement affluent deprived areas maximal patient enablement never found low empathy although factors influence patient enablement patients perceptions doctors empathy key importance patient enablement general practice consultations high low deprivation settings