Trust in national health information sources in the United States: comparing predictors and levels of trust across three health domains

Abstract

Public trust in traditional sources of health information is essential for public health agencies and organizations to perform necessary public health functions. Little research has examined levels and predictors of trust in government health agencies and national health organizations. Additionally, few studies have simultaneously analyzed trust in multiple health topics. The major aim of this study was to compare levels and factors associated with trust in national health sources across three health topics: information about tobacco, electronic cigarettes, and general health. Data from two cycles of the National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey collected in 2015 and 2017 were merged and analyzed for this study (n = 5,474). A series of weighted multivariable logistic regression models calculated odds of high trust in government health agencies and health organizations for each health topic. More respondents reported high trust in health organizations than for government health agencies across all topics. More participants reported high trust in these sources tobacco information, as compared to general health or e-cigarette information. Logistic models found that those higher in information seeking confidence were more likely to report high trust across all models. Other demographic variables were inconsistent predictors of trust across topics. This study highlights inconsistent sociodemographic predictors of trust across multiple health topics and national health sources. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers should consider the unique context of specific health topics in health promotion campaigns, partner with existing community-based organizations, and encourage and enable health information seeking.

Keywords: Confidence in health information seeking; National health information sources; Tobacco; Trust.