Why is the cdc a credible source

While the Internet is a useful tool for researching health-related issues, it should not replace a discussion with a healthcare professional. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Minus Related Pages. Why Link to CDC. How to Link to CDC. Graphic Link to CDC. Short: CDC. Long: CDC. Working with states and other partners, CDC provides a system of health surveillance to monitor and prevent disease outbreaks including bioterrorism , implement disease prevention strategies, and maintain national health statistics.

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Cancel Continue. Before the main study was conducted, we used cognitive interviewing to determine if adolescents and adults understood these outcome variables; no problems were reported. For adolescents, this same question was asked directly to parents.

Numeracy i. Participants were classified as belonging to one of four census regions: the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, and the West [ 18 ]. Previous research has demonstrated lower levels of trust among cigarette smokers in sources of health information [ 19 ]. For these reasons, we assessed current cigarette smoking as a predictor of awareness and trust. Participants who reported smoking at least cigarettes in their lifetime and reported smoking cigarettes every day or some days were classified as current cigarette users.

Adolescents who reported ever trying a cigarette and reported using at least one cigarette in the past 30 days were categorized as current cigarette users. Adults were asked to identify their sexual orientation and adolescents were asked to describe how they were sexually attracted to other people.

For adults, poverty status was classified as above or below the poverty line. Analyses for this study were conducted with SAS version 9. Sampling weights were used to account for the complex survey design. Descriptive analyses and cross-tabulations were used to generate weighted percentages and confidence intervals of independent and dependent variables. In each case, the reference group included individuals who reported not being aware of or not trusting the CDC, FDA, or federal government.

Results from the logistic regression models included weighted percentages, adjusted odds ratios aOR and confidence intervals CI. For both samples, approximately half of the participants were female The average ages of adolescents and adults were 15 years and Approximately one sixth of adults reported being a current smoker For brevity, key results are summarized below. Across both adolescents and adults, being Black non-Hispanic compared to White non-Hispanic and having low numeracy compared to high numeracy were significantly associated with lower odds of awareness of the CDC and FDA.

For adolescents only, greater odds of awareness in the CDC and FDA occurred for males, with increasing age, and adolescents living in the South, compared to adolescents living in the Northeast. For adults only, lower odds of awareness of the CDC and FDA occurred for Hispanic and other non-Hispanic adults, adults with a high school degree or less, adults whose income fell below the poverty line, and young adults between the ages of 18 and 25, compared to their counterparts. Lastly, adults identifying as GLB had greater odds of awareness of the CDC, than adults identifying as straight or heterosexual.

Overall, few covariates were consistently associated with trust across adolescents and adults. Among adolescents, identifying as Black non-Hispanic was associated with lower odds of trusting the CDC than identifying as White non-Hispanic.

For this reason, sample sizes are lower and more variable. Additionally, adults with a high school degree or less and current smokers had lower odds of trusting the CDC, while young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 showed greater odds of trusting the CDC, compared to adults over the age of A full description of the logistic regression results for trust in the federal government among adults can be seen in Table 3 and S3 File.

Men, Black non-Hispanic, and other non-Hispanic adults compared to White non-Hispanic adults had higher odds of trusting the federal government; current smokers had lower odds of trusting the federal government. This is the first nationally representative study examining awareness and trust of the FDA and CDC among adolescents and adults. Previous research has established the importance of trust in the government as a predictor of a wide variety of health behaviors and outcomes [ 4 — 9 ].

For instance, during the H1N1 i. Additionally, in a study of HPV vaccine acceptance, mothers who reported high trust in the government were more likely to accept the vaccine [ 22 ]. Moreover, in a recent study examining public support for increasing the minimum age of tobacco product sales, Lee and colleagues found that trust in government was significantly associated with policy support, after controlling for a wide variety of demographic factors [ 23 ]. Given the association of trust in government with several different health outcomes, continued research regarding trust in government is important.

We also found that few sociodemographic variables were consistently significantly associated with trust in the CDC or FDA.

Given that previous research has shown associations between trust in government and health behaviors and outcomes—including vaccine use, health care utilization, and mental and physical health [ 4 — 9 ]—our finding of consistent reports of trust in CDC, FDA, and the federal government among different vulnerable populations is promising.

However, these agencies could seek to increase their trust among groups who are less likely to trust them. For instance, smokers, individuals of lower education, adults compared to adolescents , and racial and ethnic minorities all might benefit from communications from the CDC or FDA that highlight the significant work these agencies are doing to protect public health for vulnerable groups.

One prior study found that parents who trusted FDA recommendations against administering over-the-counter cold medicines to young children were more likely to follow these recommendations to protect the health of their children [ 25 ].

Moreover, these issues may be more pronounced for adolescents or vulnerable populations. For instance, youth who do not trust the FDA may be less likely to believe campaign messages from the Real Cost about smoking. Or African American women who do not trust the CDC or information from the CDC may be less likely to believe that they should take actions to lower their breast or ovarian cancer risk.

A growing body of literature suggests that agencies can use several approaches to increase their level of trust, including faster responses to public health issues, greater transparency, and collaboration between different public health agencies. In another case, the FDA and CDC released conflicting statements and recommendations to the public about the use and efficacy of Tamiflu, a flu medication.

On the other hand, after the , anthrax outbreak, individuals reported high public trust in the CDC and its public health officials, thereby demonstrating that trust in governmental agencies can also be enhanced [ 28 ].

Specifically, our findings suggest 1 high awareness of the CDC and FDA among adults and moderate awareness among adolescents and 2 that younger individuals, African Americans, adults with lower reported education, and individuals with low numeracy were less aware of the CDC and FDA compared to their counterparts.

One study examining racial differences in health numeracy found that Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics with low health numeracy were less likely to be aware of CDC than those with high health numeracy [ 29 ]. In the same study, awareness of the CDC was one of the most important factors influencing health disparities between Whites and Hispanics in terms of health numeracy [ 29 ]. These findings point to a segment of the population to target to increase awareness and hopefully subsequently trust for the missions of the FDA and CDC.

This is consistent with some past research that has found greater trust in federal agencies among younger age groups [ 24 ]. There are several reasons why adults and older adults in particular may have lower trust in the government and governmental institutions.