Types of trust experienced in a risky medical operation (A case among cosmetic surgeries in Isfahan)

BACKGROUND: In all areas of life including health, choices have widely increased and concerns over getting hold of further choices have made trust a necessary element. This study, taking into consideration the interconnection of three concepts of trust, risk, and body, aims at describing and interpreting different types of trust experienced in a risky medical operation (cosmetic surgery). MATERIALS AND METHODS: To achieve the given purpose, within interpretative paradigm and employing qualitative method, in-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted with 26 people who volunteered to have a cosmetic surgery. Participants, who have been selected through purposive sampling techniques, were fully aware of their participation in the study and were insured that the data would be confidential and would be used only for the purpose of the study. Data were gathered within a one-year period of the study, from February 20, 2012 to February 20, 2013. Results of three-phase interviews were validated against participatory feedback and researchers’ triangulation and were further analyzed by means of seven-stage Colaizzi method. FINDINGS: Consequently, five main themes, namely, vicarious trust, trust within the reach, institutionalized trust, criterion trust, and wrapped trust were extracted. CONCLUSION: Apart from existing differences among these five themes (e.g. degree of the subjectivity and objectivity in the patient), they can be regarded comparable in terms of being single-sided (from the patient's side). In other words, in all experiences, participants, having considered “the necessity of gaining trust” as a presupposition, have made a unilateral effort in creating the aforementioned phenomenon.