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June 26, 2008Poor and uninsured patients more likely to experience racial discrimination |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: A new study in Health Services Research tried to disentangle the impact of a patient's racial and ethnic background, being poor and having no health insurance on the likelihood they would report having experienced racial or ethnic bias in the healthcare they received. First, they found that uninsured Black and Hispanic patients were more likely to report experiencing racial and ethnic bias. Results of the study showed that Blacks and Non-English speaking Hispanics were eight times more likely to report that they had experienced racial and ethnic bias in healthcare than Whites. Good communication between doctors and patients seemed to protect against perceptions of racial discrimination. Quality physician-patient communication was associated with a 71 percent decrease in the odds of reporting racial and ethnic bias during healthcare visits. It affects even individuals who explicitly disavow racial stereotypes, including some physicians and other healthcare providers," the authors conclude. Irena Stepanikova, PhD, of the University of South Carolina and Karen S. Cook, PhD, of Stanford University analyzed data from the 2001 Survey on Disparities in Quality of Healthcare, a nationally representative telephone survey of Black, Hispanic, and White adults who had a regular physician. Irena Stepanikova, Ph.D., is affiliated with the University of South Carolina and can be reached for questions at irena@sc.edu. Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley's Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field.
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