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

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

Official Title
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Do Patients Perceive Surgeons Who Provide Personal Information (Self-disclosure) as More Trustworthy and Empathetic?

Conditions
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Trust

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Surgeon Personal Background


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Patients (age 18 years or greater) visiting a single orthopaedic hand surgeon English fluency and literacy Ability to take informed consent

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 89 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Control Group<br>Information sheet with only their surgeon's educational background. | |
| Experimental: Intervention<br>Experimental group will receive an information sheet with their surgeon's educational and personal background. | Other: Surgeon Personal Background<br>* Experimental group will receive an information sheet with their surgeon's educational and personal background. Personal Background Favorite outdoor activity/form of exercise Favorite hobby Family information (children, pets) Single sentence about how the clinician conceptualizes excellent patient care<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wake Forest -Trust in Physician score | 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. | Immediately after the clinic visit, patients are given the survey to complete. | 
| Jefferson Scale of Perceived Physician Empathy | 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. | Immediately after the clinic visit, patients are given the survey to complete. |