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Associations Between Religiosity and Medical Mistrust: An Age-Stratified Analysis of Survey Data from Black Adults in Chicago

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Abstract

Medical mistrust is associated with poor health outcomes, ineffective disease management, lower utilization of preventive care, and lack of engagement in research. Mistrust of healthcare systems, providers, and institutions may be driven by previous negative experiences and discrimination, especially among communities of color, but religiosity may also influence the degree to which individuals develop trust with the healthcare system. The Black community has a particularly deep history of strong religious communities, and has been shown to have a stronger relationship with religion than any other racial or ethnic group. In order to address poor health outcomes in communities of color, it is important to understand the drivers of medical mistrust, which may include one’s sense of religiosity. The current study used data from a cross-sectional survey of 537 Black individuals living in Chicago to understand the relationship between religiosity and medical mistrust, and how this differs by age group. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data for our sample. Adjusted stratified linear regressions, including an interaction variable for age group and religiosity, were used to model the association between religiosity and medical mistrust for younger and older people. The results show a statistically significant relationship for younger individuals. Our findings provide evidence for the central role the faith-based community may play in shaping young peoples’ perceptions of medical institutions.

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Data Availability

Data are available upon request from the NIH COVID RADx Data Hub.

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Funding

Research reported in this RADx® Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21MH122010-01S1. Data from this study is available to access via the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Data Hub (RADx Data Hub).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sinai Urban Health Institute, Sinai Health System, 1500 S. Fairfield Ave, Chicago, IL, 60608, USA

    Jacquelyn Jacobs, Jesus Valencia & Maureen R. Benjamins

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Center for AIDS Intervention Research (CAIR), Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Jennifer L. Walsh, Wayne DiFranceisco & Katherine G. Quinn

  3. Advocate Aurora Research Institute, Advocate Health Center, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jana L. Hirschtick

  4. Sinai Infectious Disease Center, Sinai Health System, Chicago, IL, USA

    Bijou R. Hunt

Authors
  1. Jacquelyn Jacobs
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  2. Jennifer L. Walsh
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  3. Jesus Valencia
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  4. Wayne DiFranceisco
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  5. Jana L. Hirschtick
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  7. Katherine G. Quinn
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  8. Maureen R. Benjamins
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Contributions

Jacquelyn Jacobs: conceptualization, methodology, interpretation, writing—original draft, review; Jennifer Walsh: formal analysis, writing—original draft; critical review; Jesus Valencia: writing—original draft, critical review; Wayne DiFranceisco: formal analysis; Jana Hirschtick: critical review; Bijou Hunt: critical review; Katherine Quinn: critical review, funding acquisition, supervisor; Maureen Benjamins: critical review.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacquelyn Jacobs.

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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. All study procedures were reviewed and approved by the Medical College of Wisconsin Institutional Review Board.

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Participants consented to their data being published in aggregate.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Jacobs, J., Walsh, J.L., Valencia, J. et al. Associations Between Religiosity and Medical Mistrust: An Age-Stratified Analysis of Survey Data from Black Adults in Chicago. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-024-01979-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-024-01979-1

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