Developing and testing a patient-reported empathy scale
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development and psychometric testing of a single-item scale to measure therapeutic empathy: Patient-reported version
IRAS ID
350113
Contact name
Jeremy Howick
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 27 days
Research summary
BACKGROUND
Empathy is a key component of healthcare practice, research, and education. Existing measures of therapeutic empathy often lack robust psychometric properties and do not assess the construct the authors themselves define, while their wordiness and length stand in the way of widespread use. Single-item scales to assess empathy are used frequently throughout the literature, but have not yet been validated.OBJECTIVE
To develop and psychometrically test a patient-reported version of a single-item measure of therapeutic empathy.METHODS
A mixed-methods, cross-sectional study will be conducted between June 2025 and May 2027 following best-practice guidance for scale development and testing. A mixed-methods, cross-sectional study to develop and psychometrically test a patient-reported version of a single-item scale to measure therapeutic empathy. Qualitative data from free-text feedback from an expert panel and cognitive interviews will be collected as part of the development of the scale. Quantitative data collected from scale administration will be used to further develop and psychometrically test the scale for validity.
The study will be undertaken across several sites, some of which are not NHS sites (remote participation and participation at the University of Leicester), and some are NHS sites.Three groups will participate in the development and validation of the scale:
1. Stakeholders with expertise on empathy in healthcare research, practice and/or education, including patient representatives, to participate in assessment of content validity of the potential single-item scale. This will involve providing feedback remotely (online via the internet), and will require no more than 30 minutes of participants' time.
2. Key stakeholders, including patients, practitioners, students, and educator-observers, to take part in one 1-hour cognitive interview each (either online or in-person at Leicester Medical School) to assess face validity and pre-test the scale.
3. Patients to complete the final scale, alongside existing empathy scales and a measure of clinical neutrality, to enable tests of validity. This will take approximately 30 minutes.REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
25/WS/0067
Date of REC Opinion
28 May 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion