P632 Is the gender or age of the physician key to a good physician-patient with Inflammatory Bowel Disease relationship?
García Mateo, S.(1,2);Martínez-Domínguez, S.J.(1,2);Gargallo-Puyuelo, C.J.(1,2,3);Gomollón García, F.(1,2,3,4);
(1)Hospital Clínico Universitario "Lozano Blesa", Department of Gastroenterology, Zaragoza, Spain;(2)Aragón Health Research Institute, IIS Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain;(3)University of Zaragoza, School of Medicine, Zaragoza, Spain;(4)Centro de Investigación biomédica en red en el área enfermedades hepáticas y digestivas, CIBERehd, Zaragoza, Spain
Background
The importance of good patient-physician relationship in chronic diseases, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), is well stablished. Empathy has become one of the most important researches items in terms of patient-physician relationship because it is positive influence on the quality of care.
The aim of the study was to assess the level of IBD specialist physician´s empathy as perceived by their patients and if it varies according to the age and gender of the patient and the physician.
Methods
This is a national cross-sectional study. Recruitment was conducted between July and November of 2020 by sending a voluntary online survey to IBD patients who take part of Spanish association of patients with IBD (ACCU España). The survey included CARE (Consultation and Relational Empathy) scale (maximum score 50 points and minimum 10 points).
Results
Five hundred sixty one responses to the survey were received. After applying exclusion criteria, 536 patients were included in the analysis. Total median score of CARE scale was 44.50 (IQR 31.25-50.00), that reflects a very good punctuation. Most of the patients (531 (99.1%)) considered the contents of the questionnaire to be an important issue. Analyzing CARE scale scores of cases in which the sex of patient and physician were the same compared who did not, no statistically significant differences were found. No differences were found either, comparing punctuation of CARE scale based on patient-physician age ranges as is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Patient-physician relationship based on gender and age
| n (%) | CARE score* | p value** | |
| Physician gender Male Female | 229 (42.7%) 307 (57.3%) | 46 (33-50) 44 (30-50) | 0.139 |
| Physician age range <40 years 40-60 years >60 years | 106 (19.8%) 415 (77.4%) 15 (2.8%) | 45.5 (34.75-50) 44 (30-50) 44 (40-50) | 0.328 |
| Patient gender Male Female | 177 (33%) 359 (67%) | 45 (34-50) 44 (30-50) | 0.279 |
| Patient age range <40 years 40-60 years >60 years | 218 (40.7%) 278 (51.9%) 40 (7.5%) | 43 (30-49) 45 (32-50) 46 (40.75-50) | 0.052 |
| Physician and patient age Similar age range Different age range | 284 (53%) 252 (47%) | 45.5 (30-50) 44 (32-50) | 0.593 |
| Physician and patient gender The same Different | 288 (53.7%) 248 (46.3%) | 45 (30-50) 44 (34-50) | 0.271 |
n (%): Absolute frequency (percentage). *Median (IQR). **Univariate analysis performed with U Mann-Whitney test or Kruskal-Wallis
Conclusion
Spanish IBD patients have a great IBD specialist empathy perception, which is the key to a good patient-physician relationship, and this fact is not influenced by age or gender of patients or physicians.