Americans' trust in healthcare workers is higher than their trust in public health institutions, such as the CDC, FDA and National Institutes of Health, according to a May study conducted by Boston-based Harvard University.
Researchers surveyed 1,305 adults in the U.S. from Feb.y 11-March 15 asking about their perspective of the public health and medical systems, said in a May 13 news release.
Five poll findings:
- Americans trust healthcare workers more than public health institutions. Seventy-one percent of respondents said they trust nurses a great deal, followed by healthcare workers they know (70 percent) and physicians (67 percent).
- Americans trust the CDC more than other public health institutions. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they trust the CDC a great deal, followed by state health departments (41 percent), local health departments (41 percent), the NIH (37 percent) and the FDA (37 percent).
- Trust in federal public health agencies and medical systems has evolved over the last decade. In 2009, 36 percent of respondents said they trusted medical systems "a great deal" or "quite a lot." In 2020 and 2021, the number grew to 51 percent of respondents who said they trust in medical systems, according to a Gallup survey cited.
- For public health agencies, 43 percent of respondents said they trusted in the public health system "a great deal" or "quite a lot" in 2009. In 2020 and 2021, that number dipped to 34 percent.
- When asked an open-ended question about the top two health problems in the nation, 59 percent of respondents said COVID-19, followed by cancer (19 percent), obesity (19 percent), healthcare access (15 percent), healthcare costs and drug addiction/ abuse (7 percent).