Trust in Government Cancer Information Slips
Fewer U.S. adults now trust health agencies for cancer information, while physician trust has held steady since before the pandemic.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Cancer
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A survey of 17,252 respondents found that public trust in cancer information from government health agencies fell after the COVID-19 pandemic, dropping from 75.9% before the pandemic to 71.7% afterward. Trust in cancer information from physicians stayed stable over the same period, which means the decline is concentrated in public health institutions rather than in doctors themselves.
Why it matters
For adults navigating cancer screening and prevention decisions, the source of guidance matters, and this shift suggests many people are weighing advice from agencies more skeptically than before. The researchers link the decline to the period of health communication during the pandemic, though the survey data alone does not establish a single cause.
Researchers analyzed responses from 17,252 participants in the NCI's Health Information National Trends Survey, comparing prepandemic, early-pandemic, late-pandemic, and postpandemic periods. A separate national survey of more than 400,000 U.S. adults found that the share reporting 'a lot' of trust in physicians and hospitals fell by more than 30 percentage points between 2020 and 2024.
The players
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
The NCI is the federal government's principal agency for cancer research and is responsible for the Health Information National Trends Survey used in this study.
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
The university's medical college is the institutional affiliation of lead researcher Todd Burus, who works on cancer communication and public health.
World Health Organization (WHO)
The WHO is the United Nations agency that directs international public health, and it formally declared the COVID-19 pandemic over in early 2023.
The details
The study used the NCI's Health Information National Trends Survey to track how much people trust different sources of cancer information over time. Respondents were grouped into four periods: prepandemic, early-pandemic, late-pandemic, and postpandemic. Trust in government agencies declined significantly among white respondents, men, adults aged 18 to 34, metropolitan residents, and people with no personal cancer history. Trust from family and friends also fell, while physician trust held steady.
Timeline
Prepandemic: baseline period against which later trust levels were measured.
2020 to 2024: trust in physicians and hospitals fell more than 30 percentage points in a separate national survey.
Early 2023: the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 pandemic over.
Health Landscape
Trust in health institutions has been a recurring concern in U.S. public health research, and this survey adds specific cancer-information data to that broader pattern. The finding matters because cancer screening and prevention depend heavily on people following guidance from agencies and clinicians.
If you rely on agency guidance for cancer screening, it is reasonable to ask your physician which recommendations they follow and why, since physician trust held steady in this survey. Discussing screening schedules directly with a clinician can help you weigh information from multiple sources.
The takeaway
Public trust in physicians for cancer information held firm while trust in government agencies dropped after the pandemic. Bring specific screening questions to your doctor, who can help you sort through guidance from multiple sources.
Further reading
Explore more on Cancer and how people evaluate the information they receive about their risk.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Healio.
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