A pilot prospective study on the consultation and relational empathy, patient enablement, and health changes over 12 months in patients going to the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital

Annemieke P Bikker, Stewart W Mercer, David Reilly

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To relate prospectively initial consultation characteristics-length, empathy, and patient enablement- with perceived health changes in patients going to the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital (GHH).

METHODS: Consecutive outpatients completed the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) measure and the Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) immediately after their first consultations, again at 3 months, and the PEI also at 12 months. The Short Form-12 was completed immediately before and the Measure Yourself Medical Outcome (MYMOP) Profile during the first consultation, and both were repeated at 3 and 12 months. Perceived changes in main complaint and well-being were assessed using the Glasgow Homoeopathic Outcome Scale (GHHOS).

RESULTS: Empathy score at first consultation was highly predictive of ongoing empathy score at 3 months (Spearman's rho, 0.572, p < 0.0001). Empathy scores at first consultation also correlated significantly with enablement score at first consultation (rho, 0.325, p < 0.0001) and overall enablement at 12 months (rho, 0.281; p < 0.05). Controlling for the number of subsequent consultations, initial empathy scores were also predictive of change in main complaint, and general well-being, at 3 months (rho, 0.225, 0.213 respectively; p < 0.05). Enablement score at first consultation also predicted overall enablement at 3 months (rho, 0.255; p < 0.05) and 12 months (rho, 0.282; p < 0.05). Initial enablement predicted GHOSS well-being score at 3 months after controlling for number of consultations (rho, 0.279; p < 0.05). Both empathy and enablement at 3 months predicted overall enablement at 12 months (rho, 0.327; p < 0.01 and rho, 0.577; p < 0.0001, respectively). Empathy at 3 months was not significantly related to GHHOS scores at 12 months, whereas enablement scores at 3 months were highly predictive of both GHHOS main complaint and well-being scores at 12 months (rho, 0.459 and 0.507, respectively; p < 0.0001). Empathy and enablement scores did not correlate significantly with changes in SF-12 and MYMOP scores at any of the time points. The length of the first consultation was related to initial and subsequent CARE scores, overall enablement, and GHHOS scores at 3 and 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS: Empathy is crucial for enablement, which, in turn, is strongly related to perceived change in main complaint and well-being. The length of time the clinician spends with a patient at initial consultation appears to be an important factor in these complex relationships among process and outcome.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)591-600
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Volume11
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Aug 2005

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Empathy
  • Health Status
  • Holistic Health
  • Homeopathy
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Outcome Assessment (Health Care)
  • Patient Satisfaction
  • Pilot Projects
  • Professional-Patient Relations
  • Prospective Studies
  • Questionnaires
  • Referral and Consultation
  • Scotland
  • State Medicine
  • Time Factors

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