title: Greater professional empathy leads to higher agreement about decisions made in the consultation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between professional expression of empathy and agreement about decisions made in the consultation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consultations between 86 individuals with diabetes and four dieticians were audio-recorded. Immediately following consultations patients and dieticians independently reported decisions made in a booklet. Audio-recordings were coded directly for empathy using an amended version of the empathic communication coding system (ECCS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Empathy correlated significantly with patient and professional agreement about decisions made in the consultation (τ=.283, p=.0005). Multiple regression analysis indicates that for each dietician the greater the empathy the higher the level of agreement about decisions (p<.0005). Professional empathic response to patients statements of challenge was a significant factor in increasing agreement about decisions (p=.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results support the hypothesis that greater professional empathy will result in greater agreement about decisions made in consultations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings have implications for empathy training and provide guidance on the communication skills needed to support expression of empathy. Patient and professional agreement about decisions made provides a simple marker of effectiveness and highlights the importance of empathy as a seminal component of professional communication skills during a patient consultation.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Professions, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK. Electronic address: tracey.parkin@plymouth.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Tracey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Parkin
authors.affiliation: School of Health Professions, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Looy
authors.affiliation: Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Farrand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000178:diet therapy*; D004046:Dietetics; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013637:Tape Recording
keywords: Agreement; Decisions; Dietician; Empathy; Outcomes; Recall