Can shared decision-making interventions increase trust/trustworthiness in the physician-patient encounter? A scoping review

Author Department

Emergency Medicine; Patient Care Services; Healthcare Quality

Document Type

Article, Peer-reviewed

Publication Date

2-2025

Abstract

Objectives: To summarize the existing literature on the impact of shared decision-making (SDM) interventions on patient trust, with a focus on the specific characteristics that influence the effectiveness of each intervention regarding the outcome of trust.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search of the literature with the aid of a research librarian. Data was extracted via Covidence regarding the characteristics of the study including interventions performed, trust scale used, primary and secondary outcomes, and effect size.

Results: From 6090 articles, 97 met criteria for full text review and 20 met inclusion criteria. Sixteen of these were original studies while the remaining 4 were secondary analyses. Eight studies reported a statistically significant increase in trust within the intervention group compared to controls while 12 reported no statistically significant changes. None had trust as a primary outcome.

Conclusion: Interventions aimed at increasing SDM have the ability to increase trust, but do not always succeed at doing so.

Practice implications: The results indicate that increasing SDM can improve trust in the physician-patient relationship, especially when SDM results in improved communication from clinicians. Further studies should look at populations with low baseline trust since a ceiling effect can occur with trust scales.

Keywords: Decision aids; Interventions; Scoping review; Shared decision-making; Trust.

PMID

40010056

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