Journal of General Internal Medicine

, Volume 15, Issue 7, pp 509–513 | Cite as

Patients’ trust in physicians: Many theories, few measures, and little data

Perspectives

Abstract

Trust is one of the central features of patient-physician relationships. Rapid changes in the health care system are feared by many to be threatening patients’ trust in their physicians. Yet, despite its acknowledged importance and potential fragility, rigorous efforts to conceptualize and measure patient trust have been relatively few. This article presents a synopsis of theories about patient trust and the evolution of methods to measure it. Clinicians, educators, and researchers interested in this area may find this information useful in practice and teaching. The gaps identified in our knowledge about trust can help target new efforts to strengthen the methodological basis of work to understand this vital element of medical relationships.

Keywords

Social Trust Physician Scale Interpersonal Trust Improve Health Status Patient Trust 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Society of General Internal Medicine 2000

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.the Center for Ethics in Managed CareHarvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health CareBoston

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