How patients’ trust relates to their involvement in medical care

Also, consistent with prior studies, we found that younger and more educated patients prefer more assertive roles, as do women. We found no racial differences, but this may be due to the under representation of minorities in our sample. Finally, the small amount of variability explained in our models indicates that while we have identified predictive factors, many other factors affect people’s views towards medical care. Physicians need to be aware that patient desires for participation vary, and communication about such desires is necessary during visits.

Limitations of this study

Several study limitations should be noted. First, our measures of involvement in medical care are self-reported and do not necessarily reflect patients’ actual behaviors. However, most measures have been previously validated to some extent. Second, the selection criteria for the study do not allow for generalization to populations that less routinely seek care or are uninsured. Lastly, this is an exploratory study that was not driven by specific hypotheses derived from prior studies or firm theory. The empirical study of trust and its connection with other attitudes and relationship characteristics is still in its infancy,³⁷ which calls for more exploratory approaches that identify areas of focus for future research. The connection between trust and patients’ involvement in medical care is one such area deserving further study.

Acknowledgments

Research supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Eye Institute (EY012443-02), and the National Institute on Aging (AG015248-03).

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Felicia Trachtenberg, PhD, New England Research Institutes, 9 Galen Street, Watertown, MA 02472. E-mail: ftrachtenberg@neri.org