ArticleBMC primary care2025
Characteristics of healthcare providers, healthcare systems, and patient strategies related to medical mistrust among black and African Americans.
Article in BMC primary care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies on cardiovascular disease patients' experiences using digital health tools.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Group-Based Medical Mistrust and Healthcare Utilization Among Racially and Ethnically Minoritized Adults.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- A Latent Profile Analysis of Vaccine Decision-Making Among Black Adults in South Central Los Angeles.Vaccines · 2026Article
- Exploring Perceived Discrimination and Medical Mistrust among Middle-Aged Black Adults.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- The Development of a Scale Measuring Medical Mistrust Among Medical and Healthcare Students and Providers.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- A Qualitative Study of the Initial Diagnosis and Treatment Experience of Black Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia.Palliative medicine reportsArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBlack and African Americans experience an undue burden of disease and reduced life expectancy because of systemic racism. As a result, Black and African Americans report higher levels of mistrust of medical services, providers, and systems. The Model for Health Care Distrust posits that patient characteristics, including prior experiences, when combined with characteristics of providers and healthcare systems can result in distrust of healthcare. Mistrust is associated with lower utilization of preventive care services and poor health outcomes. This study aimed to identify characteristics of healthcare providers and systems related to mistrust and strategies Black patients use to mitigate mistrust.
methodsThis study was a sub-analysis of qualitative data collected on factors influencing decision-making around COVID-19 vaccination among Black and African American adults. Eighty-six participants (54% female, average age: 49) were recruited in Milwaukee, WI to participate in in-depth interviews. After an initial thematic analysis was complete, data coded to themes related to primary care, experiences with healthcare, and mistrust were thematically coded to the domains in the Model for Health Care Distrust.
resultsMost participants (67.4%) explicitly stated that they trust their primary care provider. 20% described only trusting some providers or trusting their provider half of the time. Patient characteristics related to mistrust included experiences of discrimination in healthcare and preferring natural medicine and wanting to discuss it as an option with their primary care provider. Healthcare provider characteristics including dismissiveness and treatment insistence were drivers for mistrust, while mutual respect and open communication and feeling like "more than just a number" supported patients' trust. Characteristics of healthcare systems related to mistrust included healthcare capitalism and perceived hidden agendas and experimentation. As strategies to mitigate mistrust, patients described seeking doctors of the same race or gender, doctor shopping when mistrust arises, and empowering themselves to speak up via education and intuition.
conclusionsOur findings align with the principles of anti-racist patient-centered care and shared decision making and support the application of this approach in primary care. This study lays the groundwork for primary care interventions focused on addressing medical mistrust among Black and African American patients. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
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