[A study of factors related to Korean physicians' trust in the government: on the target for board members of physicians' associations].
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to investigate the factors related to Korean physicians' trust in the government.


METHODS
We used structured questionnaires that were composed of multidimensional scales for each of the various categories.


RESULTS
The recognition levels of trust of the government by Korean physicians were not high, and they ranged from 3.6 to 4.8 for ten scales. The factors related to trust in the government were categorized into seven factors on the basis of a factor analysis. On the regression analysis, a positive relationship was found between "the individual propensity to trust" and trust in the government, while a negative relationship was found between "the recognition level regarding the government as an authoritarian power" and trust in the government. "Confidence about participation in the policy process" as internal efficacy and "belief in governmental ability and motivation toward public demand" as external efficacy also showed a strong positive relationship with trust in the government.


CONCLUSIONS
From these results, we can draw the conclusion that making efforts to improve the recognition level of trust in the government among physicians is an important policy task. To increase the trust level, participation of physicians in the policy process in various ways and open communication between the physicians'associations and the government should be facilitated.
Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Korea. lsh0270@ewha.ac.kr
Sunhee
S
Lee
Gunmo
G
Yang
Juhyun
J
Seo
Juhye
J
Kim
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006076:Government; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians; D011050:Policy Making; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012955:Societies, Medical; D035502:Trust