Dissatisfaction with family members’ medical care: the relationship with trust in personal physicians and physicians generally in Japan

Abstract

Negative experiences with medical care have long-term effects on family members’ attitudes and emotions. However, the impact of family members’ experiences on patients’ trust in their physicians and in physicians generally is poorly understood. We aimed to quantify these associations. Our cross-sectional online survey, conducted in Japan during April 2020, involved adults with non-communicable diseases (cardiac disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, and rheumatic disease). The main exposure variable was dissatisfaction with the medical care that family members had received. The main outcomes were patients’ (N=661) trust in their personal physicians and in physicians generally. The study adopted the Japanese version of the Abbreviated Wake Forest Physician Trust Scales. We translated and validated both 5-item scales (general and individual physician trust) for the study. The results showed a lower rating for trust in physicians generally compared to trust in the respondent’s personal physician. Furthermore, dissatisfaction with a family member’s medical care was associated with lower trust in physicians generally. Interestingly, dissatisfaction with a family member’s care was also associated with lower trust in the respondent’s personal physician, but the magnitude of this association was weaker. The lower trust in personal physicians may be mediated by reduced trust in physicians generally. We suggest that physicians enquire about past patients’ negative experiences, including dissatisfaction with family members’ medical care, to repair hidden loss of trust, when they sense that patients doubt them or physicians generally.