Open AccessWhat Matters When It Comes to Trust in One's Physician: Race/Ethnicity, Sociodemographic Factors, and/or Access to and Experiences with Health Care?
Author(s) -
Anthony Nguyen,
Rebecca J. Schwei,
YingQi Zhao,
Paul J. Rathouz,
Elizabeth A. Jacobs
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
health equity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.826
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 2473-1242
DOI - 10.1089/heq.2019.0101
Subject(s) - ethnic group , interpersonal communication , ordered logit , health care , logistic regression , race (biology) , odds , psychology , race and health , interpersonal relationship , medicine , health equity , family medicine , social psychology , nursing , public health , political science , sociology , gender studies , machine learning , computer science , law
Purpose: Interpersonal trust is linked to therapeutic factors of patient care, including adherence to treatment, continuity with a provider, perceived effectiveness of care, and clinical outcomes. Differences in interpersonal trust across groups may contribute to health disparities. We explored whether differences in interpersonal trust varied across three racial/ethnic groups. Additionally, we explored how different health care factors were associated with differences in trust. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, computer-administered survey with 600 racially and ethnically diverse adults in Chicago, IL, from a wide variety of neighborhoods. We used staged ordinal logistic regression models to analyze the association between interpersonal trust and variables of interest. Results: Interpersonal trust did not differ by racial or ethnic group. However, individuals with 0-2 annual doctor visits, those reporting having a "hard time" getting health care services, those answering "yes" to "Did you not follow advice or treatment plan because it cost too much?," and those reporting waiting more than 6 days/never getting an appointment had significantly increased odds of low trust. We did not find differences across racial/ethnic groups. Conclusion: Our study suggests that access to health care and interactions within the health care setting negatively impact individual's trust in their physician.