Behavioural empathy interventions for physicians and medical students improve empathy skills with a moderate pooled effect (d = 0.50)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r3 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Randomized controlled trials of behavioural empathy training for physicians and medical students show a moderate pooled improvement in empathy skills versus control groups (d = 0.50, 95% CI 0.40–0.60). → Ngo Hazel 2025

Evidence¶

Ngo Hazel 2025¶

Ngo Hazel, Sokolovic Nina, Hu Julia, Jenkins Jennifer. (2025). A systematic review identifying effective teaching methods and their combinations for increasing empathy in physicians: pairwise and network meta-analysis. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07917-x

q3 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r3

Random-effects pairwise meta-analysis of 109 independent samples from 111 included RCTs, totalling 11,111 participants, comparing behavioural empathy interventions to control groups. The article reports "an overall moderate effect size of d = 0.50 (95% CI = 0.40, 0.60)". Publication bias was evident (Egger's test, p <.001) and heterogeneity was high (I2 = 79.19, p <.001).

"This analysis revealed an overall moderate effect size of d = 0.50 (95% CI = 0.40, 0.60) [46], where higher scores denoted higher empathy levels."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Social Awareness and Relationship Skills — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Including didactic teaching is associated with greater intervention effectiveness for teaching empathy to physicians — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• In-person group formats were more effective than online or independent formats for empathy training — related
• Narrative medicine education improves residents' empathy ability compared with lecture-based learning, though with publication bias detected — related
• Studies using pure control groups showed larger effect sizes than studies using education-as-usual controls — related