Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2017 Feb 7;12(2):e0170988.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170988. eCollection 2017.

Trust in the health care professional and health outcome: A meta-analysis

Johanna Birkhäuer  1 , Jens Gaab  1 , Joe Kossowsky  1   2   3 , Sebastian Hasler  1 , Peter Krummenacher  4 , Christoph Werner  1 , Heike Gerger  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Trust in the health care professional and health outcome: A meta-analysis

Johanna Birkhäuer et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether patients' trust in the health care professional is associated with health outcomes.

Study selection: We searched 4 major electronic databases for studies that reported quantitative data on the association between trust in the health care professional and health outcome. We screened the full-texts of 400 publications and included 47 studies in our meta-analysis.

Data extraction and data synthesis: We conducted random effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions and calculated correlation coefficients with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. Two interdependent researchers assessed the quality of the included studies using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines.

Results: Overall, we found a small to moderate correlation between trust and health outcomes (r = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.19-0.29). Subgroup analyses revealed a moderate correlation between trust and self-rated subjective health outcomes (r = 0.30, 0.24-0.35). Correlations between trust and objective (r = -0.02, -0.08-0.03) as well as observer-rated outcomes (r = 0.10, -0.16-0.36) were non-significant. Exploratory analyses showed a large correlation between trust and patient satisfaction and somewhat smaller correlations with health behaviours, quality of life and symptom severity. Heterogeneity was small to moderate across the analyses.

Conclusions: From a clinical perspective, patients reported more beneficial health behaviours, less symptoms and higher quality of life and to be more satisfied with treatment when they had higher trust in their health care professional. There was evidence for upward bias in the summarized results. Prospective studies are required to deepen our understanding of the complex interplay between trust and health outcomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests:the authors declare that they have published on the topic of context effects before. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Study selection procedure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Coulter A. Patients' views of the good doctor. Bmj. 2002;325(7366):668–9. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1124204. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mechanic D, Schlesinger M. The impact of managed care on patients' trust in medical care and their physicians. Jama. 1996;275(21):1693–7. - PubMed
    1. General Medical Council. Duties of a doctor: The duties of a doctor registered with the General Medical Council [cited 2016 27 Jan]. Available from: http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_medical_practice/duties_of_a_doctor.asp.
    1. Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC). The Code for nurses and midwives: Read The Code online 2015 [cited 2016 27 Jan]. Available from: http://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/read-the-code-online/.
    1. The British Psychological Society. Code of Ethics and Conduct: Guidance published by the Ethics Commitee of the Bristish Psychology Society 2009 [cited 2016 27 Jan]. Available from: http://www.bps.org.uk/system/files/documents/code_of_ethics_and_conduct.pdf.

Publication types