Patient care: Is interpersonal trust missing?

BACKGROUND: Health statistics and studies in the Caribbean have omitted interpersonal trust in their investigations. AIMS: This study will examine the effect of interpersonal trust and other conditions on psychosocial subjective wellbeing and self-reported health, in order to assess the significance of interpersonal trust, as well as other socio-demographic factors on health. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The current study utilized primary data commissioned by the Centre of Leadership and Governance, Department of Government, the University of West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, between July and August 2006. It was a nationally representative probability sampling survey. A sample of 1,338 respondents was interviewed with a detailed 166-item questionnaire. RESULTS: Generally, the psychosocial subjective wellbeing of Jamaicans was high (mean = 6.8 ± 1.8), and self-reported health was moderately high (mean = 6.3 ± 2.6). The current study has revealed that income, political system, subjective social class, employment status, and interpersonal trust determine psychosocial subjective wellbeing as well as self-reported health. Interpersonal trust accounted for between 9.4 to 10.4% of the explanatory power of the wellbeing and self-reported health of Jamaicans. CONCLUSION: The current study highlights that the determinants of health include interpersonal trust. It is critical to point out here that trust must be taken into consideration in any evaluation of health statistics, as it is a factor of subjective wellbeing and health. It is within this context that clinicians need to incorporate interpersonal trust along with other conditions, as it is a part of the psychosocial determinants of health, subjective wellbeing, and health treatment.