Social Work Today E-Zine

According to a new study that appeared in Health Services Research, when they visit the doctor, poor, uninsured people often report racial discrimination when communicating with healthcare professionals. Irena Stepanikova, PhD, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina, and a colleague evaluated data on 4,556 U.S. adults who participated in a telephone survey.

Overall, people without insurance had 2.39 times higher odds of perceiving racial and ethnic bias during healthcare visits, compared with people with private insurance. People living below the poverty line were also more likely to report feeling discriminated against. In addition, African Americans and Spanish-speaking Hispanics had almost eight times higher odds of perceiving racial bias compared to whites, whereas English-speaking Hispanics had more than four times higher odds of racial bias. Whites living in poverty had nearly four times higher odds of reporting perceived racial and ethnic bias, compared with other whites.

In a follow-up question, patients noted that what had happened made them feel disrespected and unfairly judged. “Among the most common reasons were, ‘The doctor or staff talked down to me, took other patients before or instead of me, treated other patients better, didn’t listen or pay enough attention to me, ignored me or didn’t explain things well or at all,’” Stepanikova says. Insurance issues also played a role in patient perception of bias, she adds.

— Source: Health Behavior News Service