Discrimination, medical mistrust, and delaying cancer screenings and other medical care.

Abstract

159 Background: Mistrust in the health care system can delay one from seeking needed care and lead to worse health outcomes. For racial/ethnic minorities, medical mistrust may be rooted in past experience of discrimination during clinical encounters. However, few studies have analyzed the relationships between discrimination, medical mistrust, and delaying care, such as cancer screenings. Methods: The study utilized the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) data, a nationally representative study about knowledge of and attitudes toward cancer- and health-related information. Medical mistrust was assessed by one question “How much do you trust the health care system.” Those reporting “not at all” or “a little” opposed to “somewhat” and “very” were considered to have medical mistrust. Results: Overall, 15% were considered to have medical mistrust. 14% of participants who identified as a racial/ethnic minority reported feeling discriminated against when getting medical care. Participants reporting prior discrimination were 286% (p <0.001) more likely to report medical mistrust after controlling for age, education, income, and race and ethnicity. Interestingly, after controlling for prior discrimination, African American or Black participants were 33% (p = 0.001) less likely to report medical mistrust than their White peers. Overall, 33% of participants reported delaying needed medical care in the past year and 22% reported not being interested in having a cancer screening test in the next year. Participants reporting prior discrimination were 170% (p < 0.001) more likely to report delaying care and those reporting medical mistrust were 83% (p < 0.001) more likely after controlling for age, education, income, race and ethnicity, and insurance coverage. Participants reporting medical mistrust were 37% (p < 0.001) less likely to report being interested in having a cancer screening test after controlling for covariates. There was no independent association between prior discrimination and interest in cancer screenings (p = 0.286). Conclusions: Perceived discrimination during clinical encounters is a mechanism for medical mistrust and medical mistrust is associated with delaying needed care including cancer screenings. Decreasing discrimination may improve trust and reduce disparities in health outcomes.