Relationship between empathy and quality of life:

a study with primary health care professionals

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5935/1415-2762.20190101

Keywords:

Health Education, Oral Health, Health Personnel, Community-Institutional Relations

Abstract

Objective: to understand the relationship between empathic behavior and quality of life of public health care workers at the primary level. Material and method: this is a cross-sectional, survey-type and quantitative study that investigated 111 primary health care professionals (dental surgeons, doctors and nurses) and 888 users. To assess empathy and quality of life, the instruments used were The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment - Bref and the Consultation and Relational Empathy, respectively. The dependent variable “global empathy” was created from the junction of questions, and the independent ones referred to demographic, work and quality of life characteristics. For the analysis, a dimensionality reduction and logistic regression test was performed. Results: it was verified that 32% of the professionals had partial global
empathy. Individuals under 30 years old and between 41 and 50 years old were less empathic, while those over 50 years old were more empathic. Reduced satisfaction with working capacity increases the chances of partial global empathy (OR=1.81), as well as the extreme need or lack of medical treatment to lead your life (OR=1.80; OR=1.52), high opportunity for leisure (OR=1.30), high satisfaction of professionals regarding their own access to health services (OR=2.67) and significant frequency of negative feelings (OR=2.53; OR=1.24). Conclusion: the empathic behavior of the professionals is directly related to age and various dimensions of quality of life, being essential to invest in strategies that enhance the quality of life of workers, for direct qualification of the services they provide.

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References

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Published

2019-09-06

Issue

Vol. 23 (2019)

Section

Research

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Copyright (c) 2020 Reme: Revista Mineira de Enfermagem

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How to Cite

1.
Relationship between empathy and quality of life:: a study with primary health care professionals. REME Rev Min Enferm. [Internet]. 2019 Sep. 6 [cited 2026 Apr. 3];23. Available from: https://periodicos.ufmg.br/index.php/reme/article/view/49728

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