Determinants of attitudes toward person-centred care (PCC) and psychophysical wellbeing among Polish primary care physicians - a national survey in Poland

Abstract Background Person-centred care (PCC) is a core competence of family medicine and may also be linked to physicians' own wellbeing. Polish primary care is being reformed through the Coordinated Care (CC) programme, intended to strengthen continuity and partnership with patients. We examined whether PCC attitudes among Polish primary care physicians (PCPs) are associated with their wellbeing, and which demographic, professional and organisational factors are associated with these attitudes. Methods A national cross-sectional survey of PCPs was conducted between February and September 2026 through the College of Family Physicians in Poland. PCC attitudes were measured with the Polish 18-item Patient–Practitioner Orientation Scale (PPOS; Sharing and Caring subscales), and wellbeing with the Mayo Clinic Well-Being Index (eWBI; score ≥ 2 indicating higher distress risk). Pearson correlations, t-tests and multiple linear regression with backward stepwise elimination were used. Results In total, 375 physicians participated (70.7% women; mean age 42.6 years; 52.8% family medicine specialists). The mean PPOS score was 3.96 (SD 0.51), with higher Caring (4.28) than Sharing (3.63) scores; 51.4% of respondents were at higher distress risk. The eWBI score was weakly negatively correlated with PPOS (r = − 0.175, p = 0.001), Sharing (r = − 0.179, p = 0.001) and Caring (r = − 0.119, p = 0.024). Physicians at higher distress risk had lower PPOS and Sharing, but not Caring, scores. In the final regression model (R² = 0.145), completed family medicine specialisation was associated with higher PPOS scores (B = 0.240, p < 0.001), whereas older age (B = − 0.007 per year, p = 0.002) and more daily patient contacts (B = − 0.009 per contact, p < 0.001) were associated with lower scores. CC participation, practice training status, ownership and other practice characteristics were not associated with PPOS score. Conclusions Polish PCPs endorse the caring dimension of PCC more strongly than sharing information and decisions. A more patient-centred orientation is weakly associated with lower distress risk. Individual factors – specialty training, age and daily workload – rather than practice organisation or CC participation were related to PCC attitudes. Reducing workload and expanding family medicine training may support person-centred care in Polish primary care.