Protocol - Trust in the Medical Professional - Adult
Description
Three 5-item scales used to assess a patient's trust in an individual physician, medical professional, and/or health insurer. Response choices (coding) are Strongly Agree (5), Agree (4), Neutral (3), Disagree (2), Strongly Disagree (1). Responses are summed (range 5-25), with higher scores indicating more trust. Negatively worded items are reverse coded prior to summing the score.
Specific Instructions
The Psychosocial and SDoH Working Group recognizes that these instruments were not developed using inclusive language. The WG recognizes that investigators may want to implement the protocols with appropriate language, but caution that changes should not otherwise alter the items.
It is important to record the name of the individual physician or practice, medical professional, health insurer, or medical team. The measure does not include a specific time frame, but it may be beneficial (depending on the research question).
The Trust in the Medical Professional scale is for academic and nonprofit purposes only. For documentation and instructions, contact bioethics@wfu.edu. If your intention is to use the protocol in a for-profit or commercial environment, please contact bioethics@wfu.edu to request permission and obtain licensing information before use. Also, a license is required for any research that is subject to 3rd-party rights (e.g., industry-sponsored research that grants rights to the sponsor). For permitted uses, you may make minor adaptations of the phrasing to fit particular circumstances or modes of survey administration. Otherwise, you may not translate or substantially modify the tool without additional permission. If a derivative work is created based on the scale, the work will be owned by Wake Forest University.
Availability
Protocol
Wake Forest Trust in the Medical Professional
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Strongly Disagree | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Strongly Agree |
| Patient Trust in a Physician | ||||||
| No. | Item | Participant Responses | ||||
| 1 | Sometimes Dr. [INSERT NAME OF DR.] cares more about what is convenient for (him/her) than about your medical needs. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | Dr. [INSERT NAME OF DR.] is extremely thorough and careful | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | You completely trust Dr. [INSERT NAME OF DR.]’s decisions about which medical treatments are best for you. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | Dr. [INSERT NAME OF DR.] is totally honest in telling you about all of the different treatment options available for your condition. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | All in all, you have complete trust in Dr. [INSERT NAME OF DR.]. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Patient Trust in the Medical Profession | ||||||
| No. | Item | Participant Responses | ||||
| 1 | Sometimes doctors care more about what is convenient for them than about their patients’ medical needs. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | Doctors are extremely thorough and careful. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | You completely trust doctors’ decisions about which medical treatments are best. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | A doctor would never mislead you about anything. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | All in all, you trust doctors completely. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Patient Trust in a Health Insurer | ||||||
| No. | Item | Participant Responses | ||||
| 1 | [INSERT NAME OF HEALTH INSURER] Cares more about saving money than about getting you the treatment you need. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | You feel like you need to double check everything [INSERT NAME OF HEALTH INSURER] does. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | You believe [INSERT NAME OF HEALTH INSURER] will pay for everything it is supposed to, even really expensive treatments. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | If you have a question, you think [INSERT NAME OF HEALTH INSURER] will give you a straight answer. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | All in all, you have complete trust in [INSERT INSURERS NAME]. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Responses are summed (range 5-25) with higher scores indicating more trust. Negatively worded items are reverse coded (these are: #1 in the first and second scales, and #1 and #2 in the third scale).
Personnel and Training Required
The interviewer must be trained to conduct personal interviews with individuals from the general population. The interviewer must be trained and found to be competent (i.e., tested by an expert) at the completion of personal interviews. The interviewer should be trained to prompt respondents further if a “don’t know” response is provided.
Equipment Needs
None
Requirements
| Requirement Category | Required |
|---|---|
| Major equipment | No |
| Specialized training | No |
| Specialized requirements for biospecimen collection | No |
| Average time of greater than 15 minutes in an unaffected individual | No |
Mode of Administration
Interviewer-administered questionnaire
Lifestage
Adult, Senior
Participants
Adults, ages 18 and older
Selection Rationale
The Wake Forest Trust in the Medical Profession set of surveys are low burden and measure trust in a variety of contexts. These surveys have previously been used in sickle cell disease research.
Language
English
Standards
| Standard | Name | ID | Source |
|---|
Derived Variables
Not applicable
Process and Review
Not Applicable
Protocol Name from Source
Wake Forest Trust in the Medical Professional
Source
Dugan, E., Trachtenberg, F., & Hall, M. A. (2005). Development of abbreviated measures to assess patient trust in a physician, a health insurer, and the medical profession. BMC Health Services Research, 5, 64. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-5-64
General References
Hall, M. A., Camacho, F., Lawlor, J. S., Depuy, V., Sugarman, J., & Weinfurt, K. (2006). Measuring trust in medical researchers. Medical Care, 44(11), 1048-1053. doi:10.1097/01.mlr.0000228023.37087.cb
Haywood, C., Jr., Lanzkron, S., Ratanawongsa, N., Bediako, S. M., Lattimer, L., Powe, N. R., & Beach, M. C. (2010). The association of provider communication with trust among adults with sickle cell disease. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(6), 543-548. doi:10.1007/s11606-009-1247-7
Mainous, A. G., 3rd, Smith, D. W., Geesey, M. E., & Tilley, B. C. (2006). Development of a measure to assess patient trust in medical researchers. Annals of Family Medicine, 4(3), 247-252. doi:10.1370/afm.541
Schultz, C. L., Tchume-Johnson, T., Schapira, M. M., Bellamy, S., Smith-Whitley, K., & Ellison, A. (2015). Adherence to prompt fever evaluation in children with sickle cell disease and the health belief model. Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 62(11), 1968-1973. doi:10.1002/pbc.25634
Protocol ID
871001
Variables
Export Variables| Variable Name | Variable ID | Variable Description | dbGaP Mapping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Believe_Insurer_Pay_Everything_Supposed_Expensive_Treatments | ||||
| PX871001130000 | "Patient Trust in a Health Insurer: You more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Completely_Doctors_Decision_About_Which_Treatment_Best | ||||
| PX871001080000 | "Patient Trust in the Medical Profession: more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Doctors_Extremely_Thorough_Careful | ||||
| PX871001070000 | "Patient Trust in the Medical Profession: more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Doctor_Never_Misled_About_Anything | ||||
| PX871001090000 | "Patient Trust in the Medical Profession: A more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Double_Check_Everything_Insurer_Does | ||||
| PX871001120000 | "Patient Trust in a Health Insurer: You feel more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Dr_Cares_Convenient_Medical_Needs | ||||
| PX871001010000 | "Patient Trust in a Physician: Sometimes Dr. more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Dr_Completely_Decisions_Which_Treatments_Best | ||||
| PX871001030000 | "Patient Trust in a Physician: You more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Dr_Extremely_Thorough_Careful | ||||
| PX871001020000 | "Patient Trust in a Physician: Dr. [INSERT more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Dr_Honest_Telling_About_Different_Treatment_Options_Available_Condition | ||||
| PX871001040000 | "Patient Trust in a Physician: Dr. [INSERT more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Have_Complete_Trust_Dr | ||||
| PX871001050000 | "Patient Trust in a Physician: All in all, more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Have_Complete_Trust_Insurer | ||||
| PX871001150000 | "Patient Trust in a Health Insurer: All in more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Insurer_Care_More_Saving_Money_Getting_Treatment | ||||
| PX871001110000 | "Patient Trust in a Health Insurer: [INSERT more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Questions_Think_Insurer_Give_Straight_Answer | ||||
| PX871001140000 | "Patient Trust in a Health Insurer: If you more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Sometimes_Doctors_Care_More_About_Convenient_Them_Patients_Medical_Needs | ||||
| PX871001060000 | "Patient Trust in the Medical Profession: more | N/A | ||
| PX871001_Trust_Medical_Care_Trust_Doctors_Completely | ||||
| PX871001100000 | "Patient Trust in the Medical Profession: more | N/A | ||
Measure Name
Trust in Medical Care
Release Date
February 6, 2023
Definition
Measures trust in an individual physician, in the medical profession in general, and in a patient’s health insurer.
Purpose
To facilitate research regarding patient-provider relationships. Decreased trust of providers is associated with hindered patient-provider relationships and with lower adherence to provider recommendations and also is a contributor to health disparities.
Keywords
medical care, clinical care
Measure Protocols
| Protocol ID | Protocol Name |
|---|---|
| 871001 | Trust in the Medical Professional - Adult |
Publications
There are no publications listed for this protocol.