Doctor-patient relationship: The impact of mindfulness on empathy

Introduction The doctor-patient relationship has an increasingly important place in medical studies. Empathy is one of the quality criteria of the relationship. The development of mindfulness in medical schools is booming. Objectives To investigate the relation between empathy and mindfulness among residents and doctors. Methods Doctors and residents were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire – questions on their personal development practices – and two scales. The Mindful Awareness Warning Scale (MAAS) is a unidimensional scale measuring attention and mindfulness and Jefferson Physician Empathy Scale (JSPE) is a scale measuring the clinical empathy across 3 dimensions: “perspective taking”, “compassionate care” and “in the patient's shoes”. Multivariate linear regressions were performed to analyse the correlation between each score of JSPE and explanatory variables. Results One hundred ninety-three questionnaires were analyzed: 87% were general practitioners, the average age was 34 years old (SD 11) and 69% were women. Regarding personal development practices, 18% practised mindfulness meditation regularly or occasionally (23% for yoga and 31% for relaxation). No correlation between the scores of JSPE and the MAAS score was found. However, doctors who practiced mindfulness had a highest score of “compassionate care” (95% CI [1.26; 4.91], P  = 0.0012). Conclusions The mindfulness would be an effective tool for the development of the welfare of the doctors, and improving the quality of empathy and therapeutic efficacy. To support these data, it would be interesting to conduct an interventional study by offering French doctors and interns the possibility of following courses of mindfulness.