Association of Patients’ Past Misdiagnosis Experiences with Trust in Their Current Physician Among Japanese Adults

Abstract

Background: Previous qualitative research has described that previous misdiagnoses may reduce patient and their families’ trust in healthcare. Objective: To quantify the associations between patients or family members’ misdiagnosis experiences and trust in their physician. Design: Cross-sectional study. Participants: Adult Japanese people with non-communicable diseases (cancer, diabetes, depression, heart disease, and connective tissue disease), recruited using a web-based panel survey. Main Measures: Surveys assessed the patient and the patient’s family’s experience with misdiagnosis. Trust in the respondent’s current physician was measured using the Japanese version of the 11-item Trust in Physician Scale. Key Results: Among 661 patients (response rate 30.1%), 23.2% had a personal history of misdiagnosis and 20.4% had a family history of misdiagnosis. In a multivariable-adjusted general linear model, patients or a family members’ misdiagnosis experiences were associated with lower confidence in their current physician (mean difference −4.3, 95%CI −8.1 to −0.49 and −3.2, 95%CI −6.3 to −0.05, respectively). The impact of having a personal and a family member’s experience of misdiagnosis on trust was additive, with no evidence of interaction (P for interaction = 0.494). Conclusions: The patient’s or family members’ misdiagnosis experiences reduced trust in the patient’s current physicians. Interventions specifically targeting misdiagnosed patients are needed to restore trust.