RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 General Practitioners’ Empathy and Health Outcomes: A Prospective Observational Study of Consultations in Areas of High and Low Deprivation JF The Annals of Family Medicine JO Ann Fam Med FD American Academy of Family Physicians SP 117 OP 124 DO 10.1370/afm.1910 VO 14 IS 2 A1 Stewart W. Mercer A1 Maria Higgins A1 Annemieke M. Bikker A1 Bridie Fitzpatrick A1 Alex McConnachie A1 Suzanne M. Lloyd A1 Paul Little A1 Graham C.M. Watt YR 2016 UL http://www.annfammed.org/content/14/2/117.abstract AB PURPOSE We set out to compare patients’ expectations, consultation characteristics, and outcomes in areas of high and low socioeconomic deprivation, and to examine whether the same factors predict better outcomes in both settings.METHODS Six hundred fifty-nine patients attending 47 general practitioners in high- and low-deprivation areas of Scotland participated. We assessed patients’ expectations of involvement in decision making immediately before the consultation and patients’ perceptions of their general practitioners’ empathy immediately after. Consultations were video recorded and analyzed for verbal and non-verbal physician behaviors. Symptom severity and related well-being were measured at baseline and 1 month post-consultation. Consultation factors predicting better outcomes at 1 month were identified using backward selection methods.RESULTS Patients in deprived areas had less desire for shared decision-making (P <.001). They had more problems to discuss (P = .01) within the same consultation time. Patients in deprived areas perceived their general practitioners (GPs) as less empathic (P = .02), and the physicians displayed verbal and nonverbal behaviors that were less patient centered. Outcomes were worse at 1 month in deprived than in affluent groups (70% response rate; P <.001). Perceived physician empathy predicted better outcomes in both groups.CONCLUSIONS Patients’ expectations, GPs’ behaviors within the consultation, and health outcomes differ substantially between high- and low-deprivation areas. In both settings, patients’ perceptions of the physicians’ empathy predict health outcomes. These findings are discussed in the context of inequalities and the “inverse care law.”