Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32595149›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2020

Racial and socioeconomic disparities in patient experience of clinician empathy: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Brian W Roberts, Christian J Trzeciak, Nitin K Puri, Anthony J Mazzarelli, Stephen Trzeciak

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
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

5 authors.

Brian W RobertsDepartments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Cooper University Health Care, Camden, New Jersey, USA roberts-brian-w@cooperhealth.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-7690-997X
Christian J TrzeciakDepartments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Cooper University Health Care, Camden, New Jersey, USA.
Nitin K PuriDepartments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Cooper University Health Care, Camden, New Jersey, USA.
Anthony J MazzarelliDepartments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Cooper University Health Care, Camden, New Jersey, USA.
Stephen TrzeciakDepartments of Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Cooper University Health Care, Camden, New Jersey, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7048-3330

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionClinician empathy is a vital component of high-quality healthcare. Healthcare disparities may reflect a societal lack of empathy for disadvantaged persons in general, and recent research suggests that socioeconomic disparities exist in patient satisfaction with clinicians. However, it is currently unclear if there are disparities in patient experience of empathy from clinicians. Our objective is to systematically analyse the scientific literature to test the hypothesis that racial and socioeconomic status (SES) disparities exist in patient-reported experience of clinician empathy. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In accordance with published methodological guidelines for conducting a systematic review, we will analyse studies reporting patient assessment of clinician empathy using the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) measure, which to date is the most commonly used and well-validated methodology in clinical research for measuring clinician empathy from the patient's perspective. We will use a standardised data collection template and assess study quality (risk of bias) using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. We will abstract data for the CARE measure stratified by race and SES, and we will contact the corresponding authors to obtain stratified data by race/SES if not reported in the original manuscript. Where appropriate, we will pool the data and perform quantitative meta-analysis to test if non-white (compared to white) patients and low SES (compared to high SES) patients report lower scores for clinician empathy. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No individual patient-level data will be collected and thus the proposed systematic review does not require ethical approval. This systematic review will test if racial and SES differences exist in patient experience of clinician empathy, and will inform future research to help promote healthcare equity. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019142809.

Indexed as

EmpathyPhysician-Patient RelationsHealthcare DisparitiesHumansMeta-Analysis as TopicResearch DesignSystematic Reviews as Topicpublic healthquality in health caresocial medicine

Identifiers

PMID32595149
PMCPMC7322320

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.