Use of the emergency medical services by patients with suspected acute primary healthcare problems: developing a questionnaire to measure patient trust in healthcare

Abstract

Rationale, aims and objectives: The objective of this study was to develop a questionnaire measuring the level of trust and its constituents in patients calling the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for suspected acute primary healthcare problems. The questionnaire is called the Patient Trust Questionnaire (PTQ). The following frontline service providers were involved: (1) The Dispatch Centre, (2) the Emergency Medical Services, and (3) the receiving unit (Emergency Department/Healthcare Centre). Method: Cross-sectional data were collected repeatedly and redundant items were discarded using a step-by-step approach. Based on a literature review, the PTQ was developed in line with the following 4-step procedure: (1) Item construction, (2) a face-to-face evaluation of separate items, (3) an empirical pre-evaluation targeting each separate frontline service provider and (4) an empirical full-scale evaluation. The inclusion criteria for participating were that the patient must be 18 years of age or older and suspected having an acute primary healthcare problem when calling the EMS. In the final full-scale evaluation of the questionnaire, 427 patients were included. Results: A set of 8 items with good psychometric properties remained through the developing procedure. Two constituents of trust emerged (labelled credibility and accessibility), which were robust across all frontline service providers. Conclusion: A new measuring instrument has been developed for this particular healthcare chain, for patients with suspected acute primary healthcare problems calling the EMS.Although not yet validated, the PTQ is a potentially useful tool in future healthcare research with reference to the concept of patient trust.

Patient willingness to be seen by a physician associate in Ireland

“…Norberg and colleagues described this chain of trust and healthcare delivery spanning from the moment that a patient calls an ambulance to the various healthcare transitions in the patient's journey. [26,27] Trust matters in healthcare. Calnan & Rowe suggest that when competence and experience characterize healthcare, the patient believes health professionals will provide adequate treatment and make them feel secure.…”

Implementation of advanced practice nursing for orthopaedic patients in the emergency care context – A study protocol for outcome studies

“…To explore patient trust, patients receiving treatment for minor orthopaedic injuries will be asked to fill in the Patient Trust Questionnaire (PTQ) (Norberg Boysen, Christensson, Wireklint Sundström, Nyström, & Jutengren, ). Exclusion criteria will be impaired cognitive function or inadequate skills in the Norwegian language, as determined by the professional responsible for treatment.…”

“…The PTQ rates patients' degree of trust in terms of accessibility and credibility. The PTQ is an eight‐item questionnaire with a 5‐point Likert scale, with answers ranging from 1 (disagree) – 5 (strongly agree) (Norberg Boysen et al, ) and a total score (mean) will be calculated. Participants will also be asked to fill in background characteristics: age, gender and reason for visiting the emergency outpatient clinic.…”

“…The PTQ rates patients' degree of trust in terms of accessibility and credibility. The PTQ is an eight-item questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale, with answers ranging from 1 (disagree) -5 (strongly agree) (Norberg Boysen et al, 2016) and a total score (mean) will be calculated.…”

“…One of the evaluators, a specialist in orthopaedic surgery, has tested and assessed the data collection tool in regard to the assessment of diagnosis and treatment accuracy before the data collection and found the data collection tool to be applicable. While the PTQ has been tested in a similar context and is considered to have acceptable psychometric quality, no empirical validation has yet been conducted (Norberg Boysen et al, ). The PTQ has been translated from Swedish into Norwegian using a forward‐back translation process.…”