Trust in the healthcare system declines after exposure to information about the harms and benefits of breast cancer screening

Conflicting health messages negatively impact trust. Breast cancer screening (BCS) is one area of healthcare where conflicting messages are common. We examined whether women’s healthcare system trust was impacted after exposure to information about harms and benefits of BCS. We enrolled 497 women into this study. Participants were administered a decision aid (DA) containing information about the harms and benefits of BCS and reported their healthcare system trust pre- and post-DA exposure. We observed a significant decrease in healthcare system trust from pre- to post-DA. This decrease in trust was associated with participants’ perception that the message conflicted with their previously held beliefs and not the reactions it elicited. When people receive information about BCS that conflicts with past health messages, they may lose trust in the healthcare system. This underscores the importance of adopting consistent messages about BCS.