Comparison of Physician Communication, Physician Empathy, Physician–Patient Concordance, and Patient Satisfaction Across Psychiatry, Cardiology, and Dermatology Departments

Abstract

The present study examined associations among physician communication, physician empathy, physician–patient concordance, and patient satisfaction, and compared these perceptions across clinical departments and patient gender. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 238 patients (79 men, 159 women) recruited through purposive convenience sampling from public and private-sector hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan, including psychiatry (n = 79), dermatology (n = 86), and cardiology (n = 73) services. Patients completed the Communication Assessment Tool, the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy, the Physician–Patient Concordance Scale, and a patient satisfaction scale. Pearson correlations indicated strong positive associations among all study variables (rs = .77–.91, p < .001), with higher perceived communication, empathy, and concordance related to greater satisfaction. Independent-samples t-tests showed that women reported higher empathy, t(236) = -2.17, p = .031, and higher satisfaction, t(236) = -2.09, p = .037, than men; gender differences in communication and concordance were not significant. One-way ANOVAs revealed significant departmental differences in communication, empathy, concordance, and satisfaction (Fs(2, 235) = 3.67–4.60, ps = .011–.027, η² = .03–.04). Tukey HSD comparisons indicated that cardiology patients reported higher scores than psychiatric patients across all outcomes; scores for dermatology patients were intermediate and did not differ significantly from either group. These findings underscore the importance of interpersonal and relational factors in patient satisfaction and suggest that departmental context may be associated with variations in patients' care experiences. However, due to the cross-sectional design and sampling method, causal inferences are limited, and results should be interpreted with caution.

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