Public Trust in Different Sources of Information: Gaps in Rural Residents and Cancer Patients

Understanding health information-seeking behavior is critical in providing effective interventions and improving quality of life for patients, especially those facing complex diagnoses like cancer. The purpose of this study is to understand rural-urban differences in trust levels for various information sources and how trust may differ by cancer status (no cancer, newly diagnosed, survived for six and more years).

We examined 5775 responses from the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey^®. Using the component analysis, eight sources of information were classified into three domains: structured (doctor, government, scientist, and charity), less structured (family and religion), and semi-structured (health system and social media). Respondents answered questions on a scale of 1-4. Weighted linear regression models were constructed to examine trust level in three domains by rural residency and cancer status, while adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic status.

Urban patients reported higher trust in more structured sources of information (2.999 > 2.873, p = 0.005) whereas rural counterparts reported higher trust in less structured sources of information (2.241 > 2.153, p = 0.012). After adjusting for covariates, urban respondents with cancer are more likely to trust doctors (Coeff. = 0.163, p < 0.001) than those without cancer. Rural respondents with cancer are less likely to trust charities (Coeff. = -0.357, p < 0.01) and scientists (Coeff. = -0.374, p < 0.05) than rural respondents without cancer.

Newly diagnosed cancer patients in rural areas are less likely to trust structured sources of information even after adjusting for all covariates. Additional studies about misinformation and disinformation being channeled through less structured sources of information are needed to prevent any delay in care among cancer patients, especially rural patients who are more likely to access these sources of information.