Do Patients Perceive Surgeons Who Provide Personal Information as More Trustworthy and Empathetic?

Not Applicable

Withdrawn

• Conditions: Trust

• Registration Number: NCT04213625
• Lead Sponsor: University of Texas at Austin

Brief Summary

Prior studies have shown that patient trust in their physician is associated with better health outcomes and lower levels of emotional distress. Patients who have low levels of trust in their physician are less satisfied and less likely to adhere to their physician recommendations. As such, there is a need to better understand factors related to patient trust in their physician.

Purpose: To understand whether patient awareness of a surgeon's personal background improves patient trust in their surgeon.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2019-12-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2019-12-25
• Study First Posted: 2019-12-30
• Status Verified: 2025-07
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-07-28
• Last Update Posted: 2025-07-31
• Study Start: 2025-08-01
• Primary Completion: 2025-08
• Study Completion: 2025-08-01

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: WITHDRAWN
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 98

Inclusion Criteria

• Patients (age 18 years or greater) visiting a single orthopaedic hand surgeon
• English fluency and literacy
• Ability to take informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Jefferson Scale of Perceived Physician Empathy	Immediately after the clinic visit, patients are given the survey to complete.	Before the clinic visit, the research assistant will give patients a sheet that gives them info on their surgeon. Control group will receive an information sheet with only their surgeon's educational background. Experimental group will receive an information sheet with their surgeon's educational and personal background. Immediately after the clinic visit, the research assistant will ask patients to complete the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy. Each item is answered on a 7-point Likert-type scale (from Strongly Disagree = 1 to Strongly Agree = 7), with higher score indicating more empathy.
Wake Forest -Trust in Physician score	Immediately after the clinic visit, patients are given the survey to complete.	Before the clinic visit, the research assistant will give patients a sheet that gives them info on their surgeon. Control group will receive an information sheet with only their surgeon's educational background. Experimental group will receive an information sheet with their surgeon's educational and personal background. Immediately after the clinic visit, the research assistant will ask patients to complete Wake Forest Trust in physician survey. Response choices (coding) are: Strongly Agree (5), Agree (4), Neutral (3), Disagree (2), Strongly Disagree (1). Responses are summed (range 5-25) with higher scores indicating more trust.