Parents' trust in their child's physician: using an adapted Trust in Physician Scale

To assess the performance of the Pediatric Trust in Physician Scale (Pedi-TiPS) that refers to a child's physician and is a modified version of the Trust in Physician Scale (TiPS), and to explore the association of trust to demographic variables.

We performed a cross-sectional survey of parents in pediatric specialty and primary care sites. Parents completed an anonymous questionnaire that included the Pedi-TiPS. Our main outcome variable was total Pedi-TiPS score (higher scores = higher trust). Reliability was determined by Cronbach's alpha. Bivariate comparisons and linear regression modeling explored potential associations between demographic variables and total score.

Five hundred twenty-six parents completed surveys (73% response rate). The mean total score was 45.4 (SD 6), with good internal consistency (alpha = .84). In bivariate analysis, lower scores were associated with being a father (P = 0.03), older parent age (P = 0.02), private insurance status (P < 0.01), parent education greater than high school (P = 0.04), and not having a child age <3 years (P = 0.03). In a regression model adjusted for other factors, parents who were either African American (P = 0.05), or "other" race (P < 0.01), parents with private insurance (P = 0.02), and parents who had no children <3 years of age (P = 0.04) had lower trust.

The Pedi-TiPS has properties similar to the original instrument. We found associations between trust and demographic factors that should be confirmed with further studies.