A 4-factor perspective of the patient-practitioner orientation scale (PPOS): a deeper understanding of patient-centredness

BACKGROUND: Although patient-centred medical services are widely recognized and accepted, how to define and evaluate them remains a controversial topic. OBJECTIVES: This study attempts to evaluate the underlying structure of the Patient-Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS) with a homogenous population and clarify the connotation of patient-centredness. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 279 7th year Chinese medical students in were selected to examine the internal structure of the PPOS by means of internal consistency, exploratory, and confirmatory factor analyses. RESULTS: Both the two-factor model and the four-factor model showed acceptable internal consistency and structural validity. The four-factor model that endorsed the implicit attitude towards the doctor–patient relationship outperformed the two-factor model in terms of adaptability. CONCLUSIONS: The PPOS has good psychometric attributes, as evaluated by Chinese medical students. This article attempts to explore patient-centredness from the perspective of implicit attitudes that affect the doctor–patient relationship and resummarizes the four factors. These four dimensions may suggest a deeper attitude towards the doctor–patient relationship, while “sharing information” or “caring about” the “patient” is the behaviour and preference expressed on the basis of these four attitudes, which is the result rather than the cause. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Understanding the underlying attitudes towards the doctor–patient relationship can help to construct a patient-centred medical service concept and improve the doctor–patient relationship in medical education courses and the system design of medical activities. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-022-03867-w.