Trust in Physician Scale (TPS) Test

Patients who want to understand their trust in a physician can use this questionnaire to reflect on the patient-physician relationship. The Trust in Physician Scale (TPS) Test offers a focused summary of the respondent’s perception. It provides a concise view of confidence in the current care relationship.

What This Assessment Explores

Trust here means overall trust in the physician, not one decision. Items address care, judgment, expertise, honesty, confidentiality, and second-opinion concerns; these contexts inform one overall result.

Results use one scale, Trust in Physician: 11-55, representing overall trust in the physician. Higher trust is associated with better acceptance of medical decision-making and increased treatment adherence, particularly when chronic care requires long-term contact; this does not show that trust causes adherence. For someone reflecting on trust in one's doctor, bands are Low trust (11-25), Moderate trust (26-40), and High trust (41-55).

The item contexts contributing to the result are:

• Clinical judgment and expertise show how confidently the patient accepts medical knowledge and decisions.
• Personal care shows whether the patient feels heard and sees needs prioritized.
• Honesty and safety show expectations about mistakes, confidentiality, questions, and second opinions.

Methodology and Scientific Basis

Each statement uses a five-point agreement response, from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree. Confidence-oriented and concern-oriented situations appear together, so one answer should not be treated as the whole result. The response pattern produces one overall result, interpreted through the displayed bands rather than an invented clinical cutoff.

The evidence base is the published Trust in Physician Scale (Anderson & Dedrick, 1990). This questionnaire is conceptually consistent with that work, but it is not an adaptation of it. Müller and colleagues’ 2014 systematic review shows that trust measures vary in wording, scope, and validation, supporting a focused reading of this interpersonal-trust result.

Self-report may shift with a recent appointment, expectations, anxiety, or reluctance to disclose concerns. As a measure of trust in the treating physician, the result may therefore be influenced by the respondent’s current care experience and should be interpreted in that context. It captures a perception at the time of answering, not a complete account of clinical communication or treatment decisions.