Empathy as a predictor of burnout syndrome in health professionals of the Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

Introduction Empathy is an essential skill in the doctor-patient relationship since it contributes to improve aspects of health care and patient satisfaction. Nevertheless, burnout research projects have been developed in recent years. Objectives To examine the predictive capacity that empathy has on burnout syndrome in health professionals. Methods A non-experimental, cross-sectional design was proposed. The type of study was correlational-descriptive since it was sought out to explore a functional relation through the prognosis of a criterion variable. Sample: 200 (100 female and 100 male). Results First, the variance of cognitive and Affective Empathy was dug out in the emotional exhaustation criterion scale. Results accounted for 15% of variability in emotional exhaustation. (Corrected R 2 = .15, F = 17,56, p = 0,00). The best predictor of emotional exhaustation refers to Cognitive Empathy. (B = -.27, p = 0.00). It does not seem that Affective Empathy acts as a predictor variable of Emotional Exhaustation. (Table 1). Table 1 Multiple linear regression analysis considering Emotional Exhaustation as a criterion. TECA Corrected R2 F B p Cognitive Empathy .15 17,5 -.27** 0,00 Affective Empathy -.14 .13 The predictive capacity of Empathy in relation to Depersonalization was estimated (Corrected R 2 = .20, F = 25,4, p = 0.00). Cognitive and affective empathy were included as predictor variables and MBI as a criterion variable (Table 2). On one hand, the best predictor of Depersonalization is the Cognitive Empathy. On the other hand, regarding Affective Empathy, it does not act as a predictor of Depersonalization. Table 2 Multiple linear regression analysis considering Depersonalization as a criterion. TECA Corrected R2 F B p Cognitive Empathy .20 25,4 -.32** 0,00 Affective Empathy -.15 .84 Lastly, the predictive capacity of Empathy in relation to Personal Achievement was figured out. (Corrected R 2 = .19, F = 23,4, p = 0.00). Cognitive Empathy is the best predictor for Personal Fulfillment (Table 3). Table 3 Multiple linear regression analysis considering Personal Fullfilment as a criterion. TECA Corrected R2 F β p Cognitive Empathy .20 25,4 .43** 0,00 Affective Empathy .00 .96 Conclusions It was noticed that through a linear multiple regression analysis, the variable that best explains Emotional Exhaustation is Cognitive Empathy. Those results are replicated for Depersonalization and Personal Fullfilment. Disclosure of Interest None Declared