Study of the effect of trust in medical institution on the level of community compliance with health recommendations related to the Covid-19 pandemic

The present study tries to investigate the level of social trust in the medical institution and its impact on the level of community compliance with health recommendations in the Covid 19 pandemic. For this purpose, quantitative method (survey) and questionnaire tools were used. The statistical population is people over 20 years old in Tehran, which according to the latest general population and housing census in 2016 is equal to 6666801 people. Among them, 306 people from 22 districts of Tehran were selected as a sample by multi-stage cluster sampling method appropriate to the size and using Cochran's formula. The average Cronbach's alpha of the indicators was more than 0.7, which indicates the acceptable reliability of the measurement tool.The results showed that the rate of compliance with health recommendations in the survey period (July 2021) is relatively high among Tehran citizens. Also, according to the average index of trust in the medical institution (3.18), it can be said that in general, the level of trust of the respondents in the medical institution (in all its dimensions) is relatively high. Pearson correlation test was used to test the research hypotheses. The significance coefficient of all four relationships was below 0.05 and significant; Therefore, all four research hypotheses were confirmed. The results of the hypothesis test showed that there is a significant positive relationship between trust in the medical institution in all its dimensions (competence, confidentiality, fidelity and honesty) and compliance with the health recommendations related to Covid-19. As a result, it can be said that by increasing institutional trust in institutions such as the medical institution in the community, it is possible to greatly increase social participation in compliance with pandemic-related health advice and thus achieve effective control of pandemics in society.