AUTHOR=Ewald Louisa , Bellettiere John , Farag Tamer H. , Lee Kristina M. , Palani Sidhartha , Castro Emma , Deen Amanda , Gillespie Catherine W. , Huntley Bethany M. , Tracy Alison , Haensch Anna-Carolina , Kreuter Frauke , Weber Wiebke , Zins Stefan , Motte-Kerr Wichada La , Li Yao , Stewart Kathleen , Gakidou Emmanuela , Mokdad Ali H. 

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

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 70 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2025.1607884

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2025.1607884

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objectives</title><p>This study evaluates the association between trust in health care professionals and health care delays across 21 countries.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>We apply logistic regression models to survey data of over 621,000 individuals collected in Spring 2023.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Results 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).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Trust 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.</p></sec>