Use of the Medical emergency services by patients with suspected acte primary healthcare problems : Developing av questionnaire measure patient trust in healthcare

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 Medicak 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 recieving unit (the Emergency Department/Healthcare Centre) Method: Cross-sectional data were collected repeately and redundant items were discarded using a step-by-step approach. Based on litterature review, the PTQ was developed in line with the folowing 4-step procedure: 1) item construction, 2) a face-to-face evaluation of separate items, 3) an emerical pre-evaluation targeting each separate frontline service provider and 4) an emperical full-scale evaluation. The inclusion criteria for participating were that the patient must be 18 years of age or older and suspected having a suspected acute primary care problem when calling the EMS. In the finale full-scale evaluation of the questionnaire, 427 patients were included. Results: A set of 8 items with good phsycometric properties remained through the developing procedure. Two constituents of trust emerged (labelled credibility and accessibility), witch were robust across all fronline service providers. Conclusion: A new measuring instrument has been developed for this particular healthcare chain, for patients with suspected acute primary care problem calling the EMS. Althought not yet validated, the PTQ is a potentially usefull tool in future healthcare research with reference to the concept of patient trust.VRV projekte