Is health literacy associated with greater medical care trust?

Abstract Objective To examine the relationship between health literacy and trust in physicians and in the healthcare system. Design A cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of adults. Setting Taiwan. Participants Non-institutionalized adults (N = 2199). Main measures Trust in physicians was a composite measure assessing respondents’ general trust in physicians and their perceptions of their physician’s communication, medical skills, beneficence, honesty, confidentiality, respect and fairness. Trust in the healthcare system was a single-item measure. Health literacy was measured by four items. Results Respondents with higher health literacy had, overall, higher levels of trust in physicians (P