Verbal and non-verbal communication skills including empathy during history taking of undergraduate medical students - BMC Medical Education

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• If these forms of communication are inconsistent or contradictory, the non-verbal messages tend to override the verbal messages

• to verbal and non-verbal aspects of communication and empathy

• These results suggest that explicit communication training and feedback might be necessary to raise students’ awareness for the different aspects of communication and their interaction.

• Affiliative styles of communication were shown to be positively related to patients’ satisfaction with a physician while a negative association of patients’ satisfaction with a physician correlated with dominant/active communication styles

• style of communication reduced patients’ anxiety and facilitated their openness whereas a dominant/active communication style displayed reprimanding or condescending features, which resulted in reduced patient disclosure and compliance

• Empathy is of great significance for better healthcare outcomes as part of a warm and friendly communication style