Abstract

Good nonverbal communication between doctor and patient is essential for achieving a successful and therapeutic doctor-patient relationship. Increasing evidence has shown that nonverbal communication mimicry, particularly facial mimicry, where one mirrors another's facial expressions, is linked to empathy and emotion recognition. Empathy is also the key driver of patient satisfaction. This study explores how facial expressions and facial mimicry influence doctor-patient satisfaction during a clinical encounter. We used a facial emotion recognition-based artificial empathy model to analyze 315 recorded clinical video data of doctors and patients in a dermatology outpatient clinic. The results show a significant negative correlation between patients' emotions of sadness and neutral and doctor satisfaction, but no correlation between the duration of doctors mimicking patient emotions and patient satisfaction. These findings provide valuable insights into the future design of systems that can further enhance clinician awareness to maintain communication skills in the search for better doctor-patient satisfaction.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMEDINFO 2023 - The Future is Accessible
Subtitle of host publicationProceedings of the 19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics
EditorsJen Bichel-Findlay, Paula Otero, Philip Scott, Elaine Huesing
PublisherIOS Press BV
Pages1116-1120
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781643684567
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 25 2024
Event19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics, MedInfo 2023 - Sydney, Australia
Duration: Jul 8 2023Jul 12 2023

Publication series

NameStudies in Health Technology and Informatics
Volume310
ISSN (Print)0926-9630
ISSN (Electronic)1879-8365

Conference

Conference19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics, MedInfo 2023
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CitySydney
Period7/8/237/12/23

Keywords

  • artificial empathy
  • clinical video database
  • doctor-patient satisfaction
  • emotion recognition
  • facial mimicry

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Health Informatics
  • Health Information Management

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