Protocol - Trust in Medical Researchers - 4-Item
Description
The Trust in Medical Researchers 4-Item scale is a validated, interviewer-administered, 4-item questionnaire. Items are scored 1-5, strongly disagree to strongly agree, with negative items reverse-coded so that higher scores indicate more trust.
Specific Instructions
Investigators may choose the 4-item scale over the 12-item scale in situations where they need an abbreviated scale and in order to reduce participant burden. The Trust in Medical Researchers scale has not been validated in non-U.S. populations.
The Trust in Medical Researchers scale is for academic and nonprofit purposes only. For documentation and instructions, contact bioethics@wfu.edu. If your intention is to use the protocol in a for-profit or commercial environment, please contact bioethics@wfu.edu to request permission and obtain licensing information before use. Also, a license is required for any research that is subject to 3rd-party rights (e.g., industry-sponsored research that grants rights to the sponsor). For permitted uses, you may make minor adaptations of the phrasing to fit particular circumstances or modes of survey administration. Otherwise, you may not translate or substantially modify the tool without additional permission. If a derivative work is created based on the scale, the work will be owned by Wake Forest University.
Availability
Protocol
Trust in Medical Researchers 4-Item
Participants are first asked the following item regarding willingness to participate: “If you were approached by someone at the [university/institute] to participate in a study, how likely would you be to volunteer to participate in the next 3 months?” Responses were likely, somewhat likely, not likely, or not likely at all to participate.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Strongly Disagree | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Strongly Agree |
| 4-Item Survey | ||||||
| No. | Item | Participant Responses | ||||
| 1 | Fidelity: Doctors who do medical research care only about what is best for each patient. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | Honesty: Doctors tell their patients everything they need to know about being in a research study. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | Global: Medical researchers treat people like “guinea pigs.” | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | Global: I completely trust doctors who do medical research. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Scoring: The scores from the 4 items are summed unweighted, and 4 is subtracted from the total. The total will range from 4-20, with the higher the score the greater the trust in medical researchers. Item # 3 is reverse-coded.
Personnel and Training Required
The interviewer must be trained to conduct personal interviews with individuals from the general population. The interviewer should be trained to prompt respondents further if a “don’t know” response is provided. The interviewer must be found to be competent (i.e., performance approved by an expert) at the completion of the interviews.
Equipment Needs
None
Requirements
| Requirement Category | Required |
|---|---|
| Major equipment | No |
| Specialized training | No |
| Specialized requirements for biospecimen collection | No |
| Average time of greater than 15 minutes in an unaffected individual | No |
Mode of Administration
Interviewer-administered questionnaire
Lifestage
Adult, Senior
Participants
Ages 18 and older
Selection Rationale
This is a low-burden protocol that allows investigators to assess trust in physicians doing medical research in addition to assessing trust in medical research or research generally.
Language
English
Standards
| Standard | Name | ID | Source |
|---|
Derived Variables
None
Process and Review
Not applicable
Protocol Name from Source
Trust in Medical Researchers - Short Form - Adult
Source
Hall, M. A., Camacho, F., Lawlor, J. S., Depuy, V., Sugarman, J., & Weinfurt, K. (2006). Measuring trust in medical researchers. Medical Care, 44(11), 1048-1053.
General References
Dugan, E., Trachtenberg, F., & Hall, M. A. (2005). Development of abbreviated measures to assess patient trust in a physician, a health insurer, and the medical profession. BMC Health Services Research, 5, 64. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-5-64
Mainous, A. G., 3rd, Smith, D. W., Geesey, M. E., & Tilley, B. C. (2006). Development of a measure to assess patient trust in medical researchers. Annals of Family Medicine, 4(3), 247-252. doi:10.1370/afm.541
Protocol ID
871102
Variables
Export Variables| Variable Name | Variable ID | Variable Description | dbGaP Mapping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PX871102_Trust_Medical_Care_Research_4_Item_Fidelity_Doctors_Care_Only_Best_Each_Patient | ||||
| PX871102010000 | "Fidelity: Doctors who do medical research more | N/A | ||
| PX871102_Trust_Medical_Care_Research_4_Item_Global_Completely_Trust_Doctors_Who_Do | ||||
| PX871102040000 | "Global: I completely trust doctors who do more | N/A | ||
| PX871102_Trust_Medical_Care_Research_4_Item_Global_Treat_Like_Guinea_Pigs | ||||
| PX871102030000 | "Global: Medical researchers treat people more | N/A | ||
| PX871102_Trust_Medical_Care_Research_4_Item_Honesty_Doctors_Tell_Patients_Everything_Need_Know_About | ||||
| PX871102020000 | "Honesty: Doctors tell their patients more | N/A | ||
Measure Name
Trust in Medical Care and Research
Release Date
February 6, 2023
Definition
This measure assesses adults’ trust in medical researchers.
Purpose
To assess individuals’ trust of medical care and research as it relates to their concern with safety of research participant, fidelity of the purpose of conducting the research, and global trust in research and researchers.
Keywords
Medical research; researchers
Measure Protocols
| Protocol ID | Protocol Name |
|---|---|
| 871101 | Trust in Medical Researchers - 12-Item |
| 871102 | Trust in Medical Researchers - 4-Item |
Publications
There are no publications listed for this protocol.