ArticlePrimary health care research & development2019
Cross-sectional study of the association between empathy and burnout and drug prescribing quality in primary care.
Article in Primary health care research & development, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Burnout among general practitioners, a systematic quantitative review of the literature on determinants of burnout and their ecological value.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Empathy, Burnout, and Attitudes Toward Patients with Mental Disorders Among Mental Health Nurse Residents in Spain: A Cross-Sectional Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- Performance of Primary Care Physicians in the Management of Glycemia, Lipids, and Blood Pressure among People with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Can a virtual learning module foster empathy in dental undergraduate students?European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe · 2023Article
- Physician empathy during crisis: A survey of doctors in COVID-19 pandemic (COPE study).Medical journal, Armed Forces India · 2022Article
- Profiles of GPs with high and low self-reported physician empathy-personal, professional, and antibiotic prescribing characteristics.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- Exposure to High Precariousness Prevalence Negatively Impacts Drug Prescriptions of General Practitioners to Precarious and Non-Precarious Populations: A Retrospective Pharmaco-Epidemiological Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Empathy, Burnout, and Attitudes towards Mental Illness among Spanish Mental Health Nurses.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial stewardship in rural and remote primary health care: a narrative review.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study was to assess whether burnout and empathy levels among general practitioners (GPs) might influence prescribing performance assessed using pharmaceutical prescription quality standard indicators. DESIGN AND
settingCross-sectional descriptive study of 108 GPs from 22 primary care centers in Lleida, Spain, and of centralized data corresponding to 183 600 patients under their care. The study was conducted between May and July 2014.
main outcome measuresBurnout and empathy were measured using the Spanish versions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Jefferson Scale for Physician Empathy, and prescribing quality was measured using the Catalan Pharmaceutical Prescription Quality Standard (EQPF). Normal distribution of scores was verified using the Chi-square and Kolmogorov-Smirnov-Lilliefors tests. The effect of each of the variables was evaluated using crude odds ratios.
resultsOlder GPs scored significantly higher in the EQPF (P < 0.05). High empathy scores were positively associated with high EQPF scores. GPs with low burnout also performed better in the EQPF.
conclusionsMore empathic, less burned-out, older GPs showed better prescribing performance according to quality indicators. However, further studies are needed to evaluate other factors influencing prescribing habits. The promotion of communication skills may increase empathy and reduce burnout, thus benefiting patients.
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