Survey on Empathetic Communication of Community Pharmacists and Medication Adherence

Empathic communication between medical professionals and patients plays a crucial role in improving medication adherence; however, few studies have examined this relationship among community pharmacists. In this study, we conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey targeting community pharmacists and their regular patients at eight pharmacies in Osaka, Japan. The survey focused on the empathy shown by pharmacists during medication counseling and its association with patients’ medication adherence. Although no significant correlation was found between patient-assessed empathy and medication adherence, empathy scores (40.04 vs 33.83) and medication adherence scores (49.94 vs 45.17) were significantly higher among patients who rated their satisfaction with medication instructions as the highest. Furthermore, pharmacists’ self-assessed empathy was negatively correlated with medication adherence (Spearman’s Rs = –0.29). These findings indicate that while empathic communication by community pharmacists may improve medication adherence through related factors, it may not be effective for all patients.