Examining racial differences in the association of religiousness and trust in research and participation

Background: Strategies for reducing health disparities require more than the traditional routes of health education. Religious belief and practice is particularly central to the lives of Americans, and churches have taken on more active roles in shaping the health behaviors of their congregants, particularly among Blacks. The growing literature examining the empirical associations between religion and health suggests that religion may play an important role in the effort to eliminate health disparities. Methods: A random telephone household health survey was conducted in Pittsburgh, PA in 2008. Standardized measures included the Duke Religion Index (DUREL), medical mistrust, participation in research, and perceived medical discrimination. Results: A total of 1018 participants 18 and over completed the survey (347 Whites and 671 Blacks). The mean age was 51 years and 54% were female. Preliminary results show that religiousness was associated with participant trust in doctors regarding medical research. Furthermore, when comparing Blacks to Whites, there were significant differences in both religiousness and trust in doctors. These significant differences in religiousness and trust explain the variance in participant responses to the survey questions. Also, the higher level of religiousness was a significant predictor for respondents trusting health information from religious leaders (p<.01). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the associations between race, religiousness and trust in the context of subject participation in healthcare research. Better understanding of the role of religious belief and practice may suggest possible intervention strategies to address disparities among Blacks.