TY - JOUR TI - The impact of trust in health care DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3N014RW PY - 2014 AB - Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that requires individuals to assume the primary responsibility of self-managing their health behaviors. Many professionals may be involved in promoting positive health behaviors among patients with diabetes, but how patients’ relationships with their healthcare providers impact their self-management behaviors has not yet fully been explored. Are efforts by healthcare providers to impart good self-management behaviors effective for patients with type 2 diabetes? The current study aimed to contribute to this area of the literature by exploring which providers have the strongest associations with patients’ self-management behaviors, and whether trust influences this association. Using self-report questionnaires and an in-person interview, 59 middle-aged and older adults with type 2 diabetes answered questions regarding provider use, trust in these providers, and health behaviors and clinical health outcomes. The results from linear regression analyses revealed that patients’ trust in their providers was a key factor in moderating the association between seeing a primary care provider (e.g. family practitioners), seeing an endocrinologist, or primary health insurer type and lower average fasting blood sugar and Hemoglobin A1c levels. The results of this study suggest that important diabetes health outcomes (i.e. blood glucose values) are related to the patient-provider relationship; health behaviors (e.g., exercise or diet), however, are not influenced by this relationship. The results from this study may provide some insight into how providers influence different self-management behaviors and health outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and how trust is a key aspect of the patient-provider relationship. KW - Psychology KW - Self-management (Psychology) KW - Physician and patient KW - Diabetics--Psychology KW - Non-insulin-dependent diabetes KW - Trust LA - eng ER -