This paper explores the effects of health literacy and perceived doctor-patient empathy on patientcompliance and the mediating role of patient trust. It utilized the modified Chinese Patient Health LiteracyScale，the Empathy Scale for Diagnosis and Treatment Relationships，Wake Forest Physician’s Trust Scale andthe Patient Compliance Scale to investigate outpatients in a comprehensive tertiary hospital in Anhui provincewith 720 valid questionnaires. Correlation analysis showed that health literacy， perceived doctor - patientempathy，and patient trust were all correlated with patient compliance(r=0.230，r=0.419，r=0.380，P＜0.01).The results of structural equation modeling showed that patient trust completely mediates between health literacyand patient compliance. Patient trust partially mediates between perceived doctor-patient empathy and patientcompliance. This paper suggests adopting measures to improve patients’health literacy level，paying attentionto the improvement of doctors’ empathy ability for diagnosis and treatment， promoting doctor - patientcommunication and doctor-patient trust，thereby improving patient compliance and maintaining patient health.Key words：health literacy；perception of doctor-patient empathy；patient compliance；patient trust；out-patient