Table 1 Factor pattern coefficients, mean and SD, communalities (h 2 ) for principal component analysis with Varimax rotation and corrected item-total correlations on the 20 items of the JSE-Br (n = 296) †
From: Brazilian version of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy: psychometric properties and factor analysis
Item | F1 | F2 | F3 | Mean (SD) | h 2 | r i-t |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11. Patients’ illnesses can be cured only by medical or surgical treatment; therefore, physicians’ emotional ties with their patients do not have a significant influence in medical or surgical treatment | 0.77 | 0.08 | 0.11 | 6.31 (1.04) | 0.61 | 0.60 |
14. I believe that emotion has no place in the treatment of medical illness | 0.76 | 0.16 | 0.08 | 6.38 (1.22) | 0.61 | 0.59 |
12. Asking patients about what is happening in their personal lives is not helpful in understanding their physical complaints | 0.69 | 0.18 | 0.01 | 6.09 (1.17) | 0.51 | 0.49 |
16. Physicians’ understanding of the emotional status of their patients as well as that of their families is an important component of the physician–patient relationship | 0.68 | 0.00 | 0.25 | 6.17 (0.97) | 0.52 | 0.58 |
7. Attention to patients’ emotions is not important in history taking | 0.65 | 0.03 | 0.20 | 6.34 (1.06) | 0.46 | 0.55 |
8. Attentiveness to patients’ personal experiences does not influence treatment outcomes | 0.60 | −0.01 | 0.37 | 6.03 (1.21) | 0.50 | 0.61 |
20. I believe that empathy is an important therapeutic factor in medical treatment | 0.60 | 0.06 | 0.33 | 6.32 (0.85) | 0.47 | 0.58 |
19. I do not enjoy reading nonmedical literature or that of the arts | 0.51 | −0.05 | −0.09 | 6.38 (1.20) | 0.27 | 0.27 |
15. Empathy is a therapeutic skill without which the physician’s success is limited | 0.44 | −0.04 | 0.40 | 5.95 (1.18) | 0.35 | 0.48 |
2. Patients feel better when their physicians understand their feelings | 0.35 | −0.25 | 0.32 | 6.55 (0.93) | 0.28 | 0.35 |
1. Physicians’ understanding of their patients’ feelings and the feelings of their patients’ families does not influence medical or surgical treatment | 0.30 | 0.05 | 0.12 | 6.24 (1.42) | 0.11 | 0.27 |
3. It is difficult for a physician to view things from the patient’s perspective | 0.08 | 0.85 | 0.07 | 3.97 (1.44) | 0.74 | 0.23 |
6. Because people are different, it is difficult to see things from the patient’s perspective | 0.09 | 0.85 | 0.05 | 4.07 (1.53) | 0.73 | 0.21 |
5. A physician’s sense of humor contributes to a better clinical outcome | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.69 | 5.48 (1.28) | 0.48 | 0.35 |
9. Physicians should try to stand in their patients’ shoes when providing care to them | 0.22 | 0.18 | 0.63 | 5.71 (1.36) | 0.48 | 0.50 |
13. Physicians should try to understand what is going on in their patients’ minds by paying attention to their nonverbal cues and body language | 0.47 | 0.09 | 0.58 | 5.74 (1.22) | 0.56 | 0.66 |
10. Patients value a physician’s understanding of their feelings, which is therapeutic in its own right | 0.33 | −0.06 | 0.53 | 5.82 (1.14) | 0.40 | 0.47 |
4. Understanding body language is as important as verbal communication in physician-patient relationships | 0.36 | −0.06 | 0.52 | 6.06 (1.04) | 0.40 | 0.50 |
17. Physicians should try to think like their patients to render better care | 0.02 | 0.16 | 0.67 | 5.18 (1.45) | 0.47 | 0.38 |
18. Physicians should not allow themselves to be influenced by strong personal bonds between their patients and their family members | 0.22 | −0.05 | 0.34 | 4.17 (1.51) | 0.16 | 0.30 |
Eigenvalue | 5.99 | 1.60 | 1.55 | |||
% of variance | 29.98 | 8.04 | 7.76 | |||
Cronbach’s alpha | 0.83 | 0.73 | 0.74 |