Patients’ trust in their physician—Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the “Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale”

ObjectiveAim was to investigate the psychometric properties of a Dutch version of the “Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale”, which intends to measure patients’ trust in their physician.MethodsA random sample of internal medicine patients visiting the outpatient clinic completed the questionnaire (N = 201). Dimensionality, reliability and validity of the instrument were examined.ResultsThe structure of the questionnaire was best explained by a unidimensional construct. Reliability was confirmed: internal consistency was high (α = .88), and mean item-total correlations were all above .40. Construct validity was indicated by patients’ trust in their physician correlating significantly and as hypothesized with (1) satisfaction with their physician (r = .64), (2) with the length of the patient–physician relationship (r = .28), (3) with their willingness to recommend their physician (r = .71) and (4) their unwillingness to switch their physician (r = .61).ConclusionThe results suggest the Dutch version of the Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale to be a psychometrically sound instrument to assess patients’ interpersonal trust.Practice implicationsTrust is a key feature of the patient–physician relationship, yet has been scarcely researched in other than Anglophone cultures. An adequate Dutch trust questionnaire forms the first step to gaining more knowledge about patient–physician trust in another culture and health care setting.