Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29392215›Full record

ArticlePain reports2017

Can training in empathetic validation improve medical students' communication with patients suffering pain? A test of concept.

Steven J Linton, Ida K Flink, Emma Nilsson, Sara Edlund

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Article in Pain reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Steven J LintonDepartment of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Center for Health and Medical Psychology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
Ida K FlinkDepartment of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Center for Health and Medical Psychology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
Emma NilssonDepartment of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Center for Health and Medical Psychology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
Sara EdlundDepartment of Law, Psychology, and Social Work, Center for Health and Medical Psychology, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPatient-centered, empathetic communication has been recommended as a means for improving the health care of patients suffering pain. However, a problem has been training health care providers since programs may be time-consuming and difficult to learn. Validation, a form of empathetic response that communicates that what a patient experiences is accepted as true, has been suggested as an appropriate method for improving communication with patients suffering pain.

objectivesWe study the immediate effects of providing medical students with a 2-session (45-minute duration each) program in validation skills on communication.

methodsA one group, pretest vs posttest design was employed with 22 volunteer medical students. To control patient variables, actors simulated 1 of 2 patient scenarios (randomly provided at pretest and posttest). Video recordings were blindly evaluated. Self-ratings of validation and satisfaction were also employed.

resultsObserved validation responses increased significantly after training and corresponded to significant reductions in invalidating responses. Both the patient simulators and the medical students were significantly more satisfied after the training.

conclusionsWe demonstrated that training empathetic validation results in improved communication thus extending previous findings to a medical setting with patients suffering pain. Our results suggest that it would be feasible to provide validation training for health care providers and this warrants further investigation in controlled studies.

Indexed as

PainPatient-centered communicationTraining of professionalsValidation

Identifiers

PMID29392215
PMCPMC5741306

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.