title: Public trust in primary care doctors, the medical profession and the healthcare system among Redhill residents in Singapore.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There have been few studies on public trust in doctors and healthcare systems and this is the first in Singapore.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was carried out in Redhill in January 2005. Citizens or Permanent Residents aged > or =18 years were randomly selected, one per household to avoid cluster bias, and 361 participated (response rate 68.7%). An interview administered questionnaire included 3 questionnaires measuring public trust: "Interpersonal Trust in Physicians Scale" for primary care doctors; "Trust in Physicians Generally Scale" for the medical profession; and "Trust in Healthcare System Scale" for the Healthcare System. Questions were answered on a Likert scale: 1. Strongly Disagree, 2. Disagree, 3. Neutral, 4. Agree, 5. Strongly Agree. Individual transformed scores of trust (range, 0 to 100) were equally divided into 5 categories with their average being the transformed mean.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Trust in primary care doctors (mean 59.7) had proportions (prevalence rates) of: very low 0.3%, low 2.5%, neutral 40.4%, high 54.0%, and very high 2.8%. Trust in the medical profession (mean 61.8) had proportions of: very low 1.0%, low 7.7%, neutral 33.7%, high 47.0%, and very high 10.5%. Trust in the healthcare system (mean 61.5) had proportions of: very low 0.5%, low 4.1%, neutral 40.0%, high 48.7%, and very high 6.7%. For areas of the healthcare system, proportions of high/very high trust were: "Healthcare Providers' Expertise" (70.8%), "Quality of Care" (61.5%), "Patient Focus of Providers" (58.7%), "Information Supply and Communication by Care Providers" (52.3%), "Quality of Cooperation" (43.3%), and Policies of the Healthcare System" (24.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While low proportions had low/very low trust, the high proportions with neutral trust and the rather low level of trust in "Policies of the Healthcare System" are causes for concern.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yi Yong
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Choon Ta
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: M Ghazalie
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Siti Aishah
authors.forename: Ju Zheng
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Ngiam
authors.forename: Bee Choo
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Meng Kin
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hughes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011639:Public Opinion; D012846:Singapore; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust