Patient Perceptions of the Relational Empathy of Healthcare Practitioners From the Department of Emergency Medicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic

N/AActive Not RecruitingNCT05102656

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center107 enrolled

Overview

This study investigates patients' perceptions of their doctor's or nurse's empathy during an in-person interaction with the doctor or nurse wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) compared to during a video interaction with the doctor or nurse without PPE. The goal of this research study is to learn whether patients who visit the Acute Cancer Care Center at MD Anderson believe they get better (more empathetic) care from doctors who visit them in person wearing PPE or from doctors who visit them by video call and do not wear PPE.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To determine whether patients perceive their healthcare practitioner as more empathetic during an in-person interaction with the practitioner wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), or during a video interaction without the need for PPE. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To assess whether certain physicians perform better with video whereas others perform better in person. II. To characterize generational differences in patient perception of healthcare practitioner empathy during an in person interaction with the practitioner wearing PPE, or during a video interaction without the need for PPE. OUTLINE: After initial visit, patients are randomized to 1 of 2 groups. GROUP A (NO PPE): Patients receive standard of care via video call with treating physician. GROUP B (WEARING PPE): Patients receive standard of care in-person physician visits.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

107

Conditions

COVID-19 Infection

Interventions

Best PracticeOTHER

Physician conversations occur in-person

DiscussionPROCEDURE

Physician conversations occur via video call

Questionnaire AdministrationOTHER

Ancillary studies

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * \>= 18 years old * Able to speak and write in English * Able to understand and willing to sign a written informed consent document * Willing and able to complete the study assessment(s) Exclusion Criteria: * Refuses to participate * Too ill to participate, in the estimation of the patient's physician

Locations (1)

M D Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Patients' perceptions of healthcare provider empathy

Univariate linear regression analysis will be used to determine the association between the approach (in-person interaction/with personal protective equipment \[PPE\] versus video interaction/without PPE) and the composite scores or scores for each question (for each of the two tools \[the CARE Measure and the linear empathy tool\]).

Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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