Public trust in primary care doctors, the medical profession and the healthcare system among Redhill residents in Singapore
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
; : 655-661, 2007.
Article
in English
| WPRIM (Western Pacific)
| ID: wpr-250788
Responsible library:
WPRO
ABSTRACT
<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>There have been few studies on public trust in doctors and healthcare systems and this is the first in Singapore.</p><p><b>MATERIALS AND METHODS</b>A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Redhill in January 2005. Citizens or Permanent Residents aged > or =18 years were randomly selected, one per household to avoid cluster bias, and 361 participated (response rate 68.7%). An interview administered questionnaire included 3 questionnaires measuring public trust "Interpersonal Trust in Physicians Scale" for primary care doctors; "Trust in Physicians Generally Scale" for the medical profession; and "Trust in Healthcare System Scale" for the Healthcare System. Questions were answered on a Likert scale 1. Strongly Disagree, 2. Disagree, 3. Neutral, 4. Agree, 5. Strongly Agree. Individual transformed scores of trust (range, 0 to 100) were equally divided into 5 categories with their average being the transformed mean.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Trust in primary care doctors (mean 59.7) had proportions (prevalence rates) of very low 0.3%, low 2.5%, neutral 40.4%, high 54.0%, and very high 2.8%. Trust in the medical profession (mean 61.8) had proportions of very low 1.0%, low 7.7%, neutral 33.7%, high 47.0%, and very high 10.5%. Trust in the healthcare system (mean 61.5) had proportions of very low 0.5%, low 4.1%, neutral 40.0%, high 48.7%, and very high 6.7%. For areas of the healthcare system, proportions of high/very high trust were "Healthcare Providers' Expertise" (70.8%), "Quality of Care" (61.5%), "Patient Focus of Providers" (58.7%), "Information Supply and Communication by Care Providers" (52.3%), "Quality of Cooperation" (43.3%), and Policies of the Healthcare System" (24.6%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>While low proportions had low/very low trust, the high proportions with neutral trust and the rather low level of trust in "Policies of the Healthcare System" are causes for concern.</p>
Full text:
Available
Health context:
SDG3 - Target 3.8 Achieve universal access to health
Health problem:
Delivery Arrangements
Database:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Physician-Patient Relations
/
Physicians, Family
/
Public Opinion
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Singapore
/
Cross-Sectional Studies
/
Surveys and Questionnaires
/
Delivery of Health Care
/
Trust
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prevalence study
/
Risk factors
Aspects:
Social determinants of health
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
Year:
2007
Document type:
Article