Trust, comfort, and cultural sensitivity in physician -patient relationships: Perspectives of a diverse sample of primary care patients

This study identified specific physician behaviors and other variables that primary care patients from diverse cultural and racial backgrounds perceive as important in the demonstration and development of trust, comfort, and cultural sensitivity in physician-patient relationships. One hundred thirty-four primary-care patients from three different ethnic/cultural groups (African American, Caucasian American, Hispanic American) participated in focus group discussions designed to elicit patients' perceptions of trust, comfort, and cultural sensitivity in their relationships with their primary care physician. Patients also completed a short survey instrument designed to measure patients' perceived trust in and comfort with their physician, the physician's cultural sensitivity, and patients' satisfaction with health care received. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and then subjected to constant comparative analysis, a component of grounded theory analysis.;Results revealed numerous variables that patients perceive as necessary and beneficial for the development of a positive physician-patient relationship. Findings were highly similar across cultural groups, although some findings were more pronounced for one cultural group than for others. Results of the quantitative survey revealed significant correlations between patients' reported satisfaction with the health care they received and trust, comfort, and cultural sensitivity in the physician-patient relationship.;These findings are important as they can be incorporated into physician training programs, resulting in greater physician effectiveness with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. The implications of the finding for (a) physician training, (b) psychologists in health care settings, and (c) future research are discussed. Follow-up research is necessary to establish the reliability and generalizability of the findings. Future research is also needed to clarify the nature of relationships among variables (such as between trust and cultural sensitivity) as well as to identify the impact of these variables on important outcomes such as treatment adherence and patient satisfaction.