How about trust in physician-patient relationship? A concept analysis of physicians' perspectives

Objective: Trust is an essential part of the physician-patient relationship. Yet physicians' perspectives in physician-patient trust has always been ignored, and the concept has not yet been clearly defined and analyzed. This study explores the conceptual understanding of physicians' trust in patients in the context of healthcare and clinical practice and provides a theoretical frameworks foundation for practitioners and researchers.

Methods: Seven databases were systematically searched for relevant studies, including Pubmed, CINAHL, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang and Weipu. Walker and Avant's approach to concept analysis was performed to extract the concept attributes, antecedents, consequences, and define empirical referents.

Results: Of the 8028 articles identified, 43 met the inclusion criteria. Five core attributes were identified: (a) Interaction and support; (b) Confidence and expectation in building trust; (c) Motivation for medical treatment; (d) Socially and medically epistemic competence of patients; (e) Self-reported accuracy. Antecedents were divided into a physician-patient relationship and the social context of medicine. Consequences included treatment outcomes, patient outcomes, and treatment efficiency for physicians and patients.

Conclusions: Our findings offer insights into refining the concept of trust. By collaborating across healthcare trusts, we can contribute to the development of theoretical models and empirical research. This concept analysis serves as a foundation to develop instruments to measure the concept and highlight the need to design a qualitative study and enhancement strategy for physician trust in patients.

Practice implications: Trust in Physicians' perspectives is an essential part of the physician-patient relationship. Establishing and strengthening physicians' trust in patients is significant to healthcare and clinical practice. Concept analysis of physicians' trust in patients will give policymakers a more evident concept and understanding of the importance of the trust improvement strategy and guide healthcare managers to improve theoretical development.