Morton Sarah C M, Miller Ashley, Everhart Robin S
Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 25;20(6):e0321412. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321412. eCollection 2025.
OBJECTIVE: The current study examined associations between various dimensions of medical fear (e.g., blood, mutilation, sharp objects, injection/blood draws, examinations/symptoms) and perceptions of provider trust, provider empathy, healthcare system mistrust, and attitudes toward medical care-seeking. Additionally, we explored the associations between different dimensions of medical fear and medical care engagement. METHODS: A convenience sample of 479 young adults (18-26 years) attending a large, urban Mid-Atlantic university completed a cross-sectional online survey during the fall of 2022 assessing medical fears, provider trust, perceptions of provider empathy, medical care-seeking attitudes, and medical mistrust. Participants with medical fears (n = 211) answered an additional open-ended question regarding medical care engagement. Multiple regression models were used to examine associations between medical fear dimensions and outcome measures. A binary logistic regression was performed to examine the likelihood of health care engagement based on different medical fear dimensions. Statistical significance was set at p < .05. RESULTS: Participants identified as 75.8% female (n = 363), 47.0% White (n = 219), and 25.7% (n = 122) reported having a chronic illness. Increasing levels of mutilation fear were significantly associated with lower ratings of provider trust (β = -.286, p < .001) and empathy (β = -.172, p = .010), as well as more medical mistrust (β = .227, p < .001). None of the five medical fear dimensions were significantly associated with medical engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the role of mutilation fears in patient-provider relationships and views about the healthcare system in general. While these fears were not associated with medical care avoidance in our study, their association with patient-provider relationships may have implications for adherence to medical recommendations and health outcomes. Patient-centered collaborative care that takes medical fears into consideration may help strengthen patient-provider relationships and mitigate potential negative health outcomes.
目的:本研究考察了医疗恐惧的各个维度(如血液、肢体残缺、尖锐物品、注射/抽血、检查/症状)与对医疗服务提供者的信任、医疗服务提供者的同理心、对医疗系统的不信任以及就医态度之间的关联。此外,我们还探究了医疗恐惧的不同维度与医疗参与之间的关联。 方法:2022年秋季,对一所位于大西洋中部大城市的大型大学的479名年轻成年人(18 - 26岁)进行了便利抽样,他们完成了一项横断面在线调查,评估医疗恐惧、对医疗服务提供者的信任、对医疗服务提供者同理心的认知、就医态度以及对医疗的不信任。有医疗恐惧的参与者(n = 211)回答了一个关于医疗参与的额外开放性问题。使用多元回归模型来考察医疗恐惧维度与结果指标之间的关联。进行二元逻辑回归以考察基于不同医疗恐惧维度的医疗参与可能性。统计学显著性设定为p < .05。 结果:参与者中75.8%为女性(n = 363),47.0%为白人(n = 219),25.7%(n = 122)报告患有慢性病。肢体残缺恐惧程度的增加与对医疗服务提供者的信任评分较低(β = -.286,p < .001)、同理心评分较低(β = -.172,p = .010)以及更多的医疗不信任显著相关(β = .227,p < .001)。五个医疗恐惧维度中没有一个与医疗参与显著相关。 结论:研究结果凸显了肢体残缺恐惧在医患关系以及对整个医疗系统看法中的作用。虽然在我们的研究中这些恐惧与避免就医无关,但它们与医患关系的关联可能对遵循医疗建议和健康结果产生影响。考虑到医疗恐惧的以患者为中心的协作式医疗可能有助于加强医患关系并减轻潜在的负面健康结果。
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