Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 Countries

ObjectivesThis study evaluates the association between trust in health care professionals and health care delays across 21 countries.MethodsWe apply logistic regression models to survey data of over 621,000 individuals collected in Spring 2023.ResultsResults show 44.5% of respondents with medical co...

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Main Authors: Louisa Ewald, John Bellettiere, Tamer H. Farag, Kristina M. Lee, Sidhartha Palani, Emma Castro, Amanda Deen, Catherine W. Gillespie, Bethany M. Huntley, Alison Tracy, Anna-Carolina Haensch, Frauke Kreuter, Wiebke Weber, Stefan Zins, Wichada La Motte-Kerr, Yao Li, Kathleen Stewart, Emmanuela Gakidou, Ali H. Mokdad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:International Journal of Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607884/full
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author Louisa Ewald
John Bellettiere
Tamer H. Farag
Kristina M. Lee
Sidhartha Palani
Emma Castro
Amanda Deen
Catherine W. Gillespie
Bethany M. Huntley
Alison Tracy
Anna-Carolina Haensch
Frauke Kreuter
Frauke Kreuter
Wiebke Weber
Stefan Zins
Stefan Zins
Wichada La Motte-Kerr
Wichada La Motte-Kerr
Yao Li
Kathleen Stewart
Emmanuela Gakidou
Emmanuela Gakidou
Ali H. Mokdad
Ali H. Mokdad
author_facet Louisa Ewald
John Bellettiere
Tamer H. Farag
Kristina M. Lee
Sidhartha Palani
Emma Castro
Amanda Deen
Catherine W. Gillespie
Bethany M. Huntley
Alison Tracy
Anna-Carolina Haensch
Frauke Kreuter
Frauke Kreuter
Wiebke Weber
Stefan Zins
Stefan Zins
Wichada La Motte-Kerr
Wichada La Motte-Kerr
Yao Li
Kathleen Stewart
Emmanuela Gakidou
Emmanuela Gakidou
Ali H. Mokdad
Ali H. Mokdad
author_sort Louisa Ewald
collection DOAJ
description ObjectivesThis study evaluates the association between trust in health care professionals and health care delays across 21 countries.MethodsWe apply logistic regression models to survey data of over 621,000 individuals collected in Spring 2023.ResultsResults show 44.5% of respondents with medical conditions experienced delays in accessing health care and 44.1% reported lack of trust in health care professionals. Those who trusted health care professionals had significantly lower odds of delaying medical care. Trust was most strongly associated with delays in the United Kingdom (OR = 0.373, 95% CI = 0.273–0.510), while South Africa had the smallest association (OR = 0.762, 95% CI = 0.582–0.997).ConclusionTrust is important in influencing health care-seeking behaviors, though the causal direction warrants further research. There is a need for targeted strategies to build and sustain trust in health care relationships as well as enhancing health care access.
format Article
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language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series International Journal of Public Health
spelling doaj-art-278d5dbd997c46b4828d9d68d678a79c2025-08-20T02:11:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.International Journal of Public Health1661-85642025-04-017010.3389/ijph.2025.16078841607884Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 CountriesLouisa Ewald0John Bellettiere1Tamer H. Farag2Kristina M. Lee3Sidhartha Palani4Emma Castro5Amanda Deen6Catherine W. Gillespie7Bethany M. Huntley8Alison Tracy9Anna-Carolina Haensch10Frauke Kreuter11Frauke Kreuter12Wiebke Weber13Stefan Zins14Stefan Zins15Wichada La Motte-Kerr16Wichada La Motte-Kerr17Yao Li18Kathleen Stewart19Emmanuela Gakidou20Emmanuela Gakidou21Ali H. Mokdad22Ali H. Mokdad23Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesMeta, Menlo Park, CA, United StatesMeta, Menlo Park, CA, United StatesMeta, Menlo Park, CA, United StatesMeta, Menlo Park, CA, United StatesInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesInstitute for Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilian Universitat, Munich, GermanyInstitute for Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilian Universitat, Munich, GermanyDepartment of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesInstitute for Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilian Universitat, Munich, GermanyInstitute for Statistics, Ludwig-Maximilian Universitat, Munich, GermanyInstitute for Employment Research of the German Federal Employment Agency, Nuremberg, GermanyInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesDepartment of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesDepartment of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesDepartment of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesDepartment of Health Metrics Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesDepartment of Health Metrics Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesObjectivesThis study evaluates the association between trust in health care professionals and health care delays across 21 countries.MethodsWe apply logistic regression models to survey data of over 621,000 individuals collected in Spring 2023.ResultsResults show 44.5% of respondents with medical conditions experienced delays in accessing health care and 44.1% reported lack of trust in health care professionals. Those who trusted health care professionals had significantly lower odds of delaying medical care. Trust was most strongly associated with delays in the United Kingdom (OR = 0.373, 95% CI = 0.273–0.510), while South Africa had the smallest association (OR = 0.762, 95% CI = 0.582–0.997).ConclusionTrust is important in influencing health care-seeking behaviors, though the causal direction warrants further research. There is a need for targeted strategies to build and sustain trust in health care relationships as well as enhancing health care access.https://www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607884/fulltrust in health care providershealth care accesshealth care delaysCOVID-19 pandemichealth systemshealth care utilization
spellingShingle Louisa Ewald
John Bellettiere
Tamer H. Farag
Kristina M. Lee
Sidhartha Palani
Emma Castro
Amanda Deen
Catherine W. Gillespie
Bethany M. Huntley
Alison Tracy
Anna-Carolina Haensch
Frauke Kreuter
Frauke Kreuter
Wiebke Weber
Stefan Zins
Stefan Zins
Wichada La Motte-Kerr
Wichada La Motte-Kerr
Yao Li
Kathleen Stewart
Emmanuela Gakidou
Emmanuela Gakidou
Ali H. Mokdad
Ali H. Mokdad
Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 Countries
International Journal of Public Health
trust in health care providers
health care access
health care delays
COVID-19 pandemic
health systems
health care utilization
title Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 Countries
title_full Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 Countries
title_fullStr Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 Countries
title_full_unstemmed Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 Countries
title_short Association Between Trust in Health Care Professionals and Health Care Access: Insights From an Online Survey Across 21 Countries
title_sort association between trust in health care professionals and health care access insights from an online survey across 21 countries
topic trust in health care providers
health care access
health care delays
COVID-19 pandemic
health systems
health care utilization
url https://www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607884/full
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