Trends in trust of professional groups in Portugal during COVID-19

We repeated a Portuguese study, 5 months after a first evaluation, to observe any change in the average levels of trust of professional groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. From our sample of the Portuguese population, 1455 completed the questionnaire from June through September 2020, and 1156 during 2 months, February and March 2021. We found a trend toward higher trust of medical doctors, nurses, and researchers. Analysis of changes between the two pandemic periods (first and second lockdown) showed a statistically significant increase in trust in nurses (t = - 2.01; p = 0.04) and researchers (t = - 2.40; p = 0.02), and the opposite trend for journalists and politicians. This study shows a trend in increasing trust of the Portuguese people toward science-based activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.