Background
Trust and expectation are important aspect of doctor patient relationship and its role in patient’s satisfaction and medication adherence is unclear.
Objective
To study the levels of trust and expectation on psychiatrist and its relationship with patient’s satisfaction and treatment adherence.
Methods
One hundred and twenty three consecutive outpatients were recruited on follow-up if they satisfied the selection criteria. They were assessed with socio-demographic and clinical proforma designed for this study, Patient Trust Scale, Patient Satisfaction Survey, Patient Expectations Questionnaire and Medication Adherence Rating Scale.
Results
There was a high mean score on trust scale (Mean 38.9, SD 8.5) and expectation questionnaire (Mean 13.5, SD 3.3). On Kruskal-Wallis H test significant group differences were observed in nuclear vs joint family type (c2 = 18.496, h2 = .151, df = 1, Sig. = .000) and knowledge of treatment option (medication only vs medication + psychotherapy) treatment option (c2 = 18.100, h2 = .148, df = 2, Sig. = .000) and occupational status (employed vs unemployed) (c2 = 3.165, h2 =.029, df = 1, Sig. = .056) on the score of PTS. Similar differences were also observed in method of treatment sought before (no treatment vs allopathic) (c2 = .065, h2 = .065, df = 3, Sig. = .005), knowledge about treatment option (medication only vs medication + psychotherapy) (c2 = .026, h2 = .161, df = 2, Sig. = .000) and occupation (employed vs unemployed) (c2 = .061, h2 = .061, df = 1, Sig. = .006) on the score of PEQ. On regression analysis (R2 = .723, F = 156.46, p = .000) value of the score on patient satisfaction was statistically significant as predicted by score on measure of expectation (beta = -0.095, t = -1.966, p = 0.052) and trust (beta = .842, t = 17.504, p = .000).
Discussion
Levels of patients trust and expectation on physician varies with knowledge about treatment option & occupational status, and significantly associated with levels of satisfaction.
Patient trust; patient expectation; patient satisfaction; medication adherence; mental illness