Clinicians' emotional responses to patients impacted patient engagement and diagnostic decisions, with negative emotions associated with poorer quality care and positive emotions with more comprehensive care¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · reviewr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2030: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? ED studies found that clinicians' emotional responses to patients impacted patient engagement and diagnostic decisions; frustration with difficult patients was associated with poorer quality care, while kind and appreciative patients inspired more time and effort. → Xi Cheng En 2025
Evidence¶
Xi Cheng En 2025¶
Xi Cheng En, Boet Sylvain, Assi Alexandre, Sikora Lindsey, McConnell Meghan M. (2025). Influence of emotions on clinical performance in acute care: A scoping review. PLoS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329445
q2 · i? · review · r2
The review reports two studies by Isbell and colleagues examining ED providers' perceptions, finding that "clinicians' emotional responses to patients impacted patient engagement and diagnostic decisions". Patients with unrealistic expectations led to frustration associated with poorer quality care.
"These studies found that clinicians' emotional responses to patients impacted patient engagement and diagnostic decisions [4,39]."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Emotion regulation may reduce inappropriate prescriptions, while empathy shows no significant correlation with prescription volume or quality — related
- Evidence that emotional competence improves patient outcomes is limited and mixed — related
- Emotional competence enhances diagnostic and therapeutic clinical reasoning most clearly in life-threatening emergency situations — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
- Fear and clinical uncertainty were associated with more cautious clinical decisions, including more admissions, more diagnostic tests, and more antibiotic prescriptions — related
- The effects of emotions on non-procedural skills in real-world clinical settings were inconclusive, with contrasting findings on stress and performance — related
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