Empathy fatigue among physicians and its influencing factors: a cross-sectional survey from Southwest China

Abstract

Abstract Background Empathy fatigue refers to the excessive empathy required of medical staff in the process of helping patients, which can produce traumatic experiences and emotional exhaustion. Severe empathy fatigue can even lead to medical disputes and errors, exacerbating increasingly tense doctor–patient relationships. Most studies on empathy fatigue focus on nurses, with few studies on physicians. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire was used to assess empathy fatigue among physicians in public tertiary general hospitals in southwest China using convenience sampling. Results A total of 562 physicians participated in the survey; average empathy satisfaction scores were 32.1 ± 6.85, 28.2 ± 5.30, and 26.2 ± 6.04 for empathy satisfaction disorder, job burnout, and secondary traumatic stress domains, respectively. We identified 291 (51.8%) physicians with severe empathy fatigue. Working two or three night shifts per week was associated with severe empathy fatigue. In total, 424 (75.4%) physicians had thoughts of resigning. Weekly rest time, empathic satisfaction disorder, job burnout, and secondary traumatic stress disorder influenced thoughts of resigning. Conclusions The majority of hospital physicians experience empathy fatigue and have considered resigning; this study provides reference data that demonstrate the extent of this issue. Efforts are urgently needed to address empathy fatigue in physicians and, therefore, increase physician retention.

Keywords

• empathy fatigue
• empathy satisfaction
• job burnout
• secondary stress trauma
• hospital physicians