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Trust in physicians and hospitals decreased sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, and higher levels of trust were tied to greater odds of getting vaccinated for COVID-19 or influenza, according to a survey study of U.S. adults.

Among over 400,000 unique respondents, the proportion of adults who agreed they had "a lot of trust" in physicians and hospitals declined from 71.5% in April 2020 to 40.1% in January 2024, reported Roy Perlis, MD, MSc, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open.

In regression models, factors associated with lower trust as of the spring and summer of 2023 included being 25 to 64 years of age, female gender, lower educational level, lower income, Black race, and living in a rural setting. Even when the researchers controlled for partisanship, these associations persisted.

"We were surprised by the magnitude of the shift," Perlis told MedPage Today. "I think early in the pandemic trust likely increased above pre-pandemic levels, but it certainly came way down over the course of the pandemic." Head over to MedPage Today to read more about it.