Abstract
Trust in healthcare systems and physicians is considered important for the delivery of good healthcare. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a random three-stage sample of the general population of Croatia (N = 1230), stratified by regions. Of respondents, 58.7% displayed a high or very high level of trust in the healthcare system, 65.6% in physicians, and 78.3% in their family physician. Respondents’ views regarding patients’ roles in the discussion of treatment options, confidence in physicians’ expertise, and underlying motives of physicians were mixed. Respondents with a lower level of education, those with low monthly incomes, and those from smaller settlements had lower levels of trust in physicians and the healthcare system. Trust in other institutions, religiosity and religious beliefs, tolerance of personal choice, and experience of caring for the seriously ill and dying were predictors of trust in healthcare and physicians. Our findings suggest that levels of healthcare-related trust in Croatia are increasing in comparison with previous research, but need improvement. Levels of trust are lowest in populations that are most vulnerable and most in need of care and protection.
Highlights
Academic Editor: Gabriel GulisTrust in the healthcare system and physicians is a considered key component of the delivery of good healthcare and achieving desirable health outcomes [1,2,3,4]
Satisfaction is an assessment of service delivery, while trust is an attitude formed around certain characteristics of those that deliver care and the dimensions of one’s relationship with them that take place within the healthcare system as a whole [5]
Around two thirds of the respondents were employed, 43.3% of the respondents lived in settlements with fewer than 2000 inhabitants, and 35.3% of the respondents had incomes below the average income in the Republic of Croatia (Table 3)
Summary
Academic Editor: Gabriel GulisTrust in the healthcare system and physicians is a considered key component of the delivery of good healthcare and achieving desirable health outcomes [1,2,3,4]. Patients can trust physicians and institutions that are not deserving of their trust. Trust is not the same as satisfaction with healthcare services, which is often used to evaluate the quality of healthcare. Satisfaction is an assessment of service delivery, while trust is an attitude formed around certain characteristics of those that deliver care and the dimensions of one’s relationship with them that take place within the healthcare system as a whole [5]. The following dimensions are usually associated with trust: fidelity (keeping patients best interest in mind and not taking advantage of them), honesty (telling the truth and avoiding intentional dishonesty), confidentiality (protection and proper use of sensitive patients’ information), competence
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