{"title":"Healthcare providers’ psychological investment in clinical recommendations: Investigating the role of implicit racial attitudes","authors":"Conor M.C. Duffy , Emerson Do Bú , Cícero Roberto Pereira , Filipa Madeira , Nao Hagiwara","doi":"10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117435","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Racial disparities in clinical recommendations can result in racial disparities in health. While healthcare providers' implicit racial attitudes (affective component of bias) are theorized to be one major factor contributing to racial disparities in clinical recommendations, empirical evidence to support the link is lacking. This study aimed to bridge this gap by moving beyond the standard approach of operationalizing the quality of clinical recommendations as a guideline-consistent vs. -inconsistent dichotomy. The present secondary study examined the role of provider implicit racial attitudes in the quality of clinical recommendations, operationalized as behaviors reflecting providers’ psychological investment in patient care (i.e., number of words used to describe clinical recommendations, and number of treatment options recommended). Two-hundred-and-ten White medical trainees reviewed a clinical vignette of either a White or Black male patient and provided clinical recommendations. Their implicit racial attitudes were evaluated using the Implicit Association Test. Participants with more biased implicit racial attitudes (i.e., stronger implicit preference for White vs. Black individuals) used fewer words to describe their clinical recommendations and provided fewer clinical recommendations for the Black (vs. White) patient, while there were no significant differences between Black and White patients among participants with less biased implicit racial attitudes. These results illustrate the insidious impact of implicit racial attitudes in healthcare provision and underscore the need for researchers to consider the complex, nuanced ways in which provider implicit racial attitudes might manifest in clinical decision-making.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49122,"journal":{"name":"Social Science & Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Science & Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795362400889X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Racial disparities in clinical recommendations can result in racial disparities in health. While healthcare providers' implicit racial attitudes (affective component of bias) are theorized to be one major factor contributing to racial disparities in clinical recommendations, empirical evidence to support the link is lacking. This study aimed to bridge this gap by moving beyond the standard approach of operationalizing the quality of clinical recommendations as a guideline-consistent vs. -inconsistent dichotomy. The present secondary study examined the role of provider implicit racial attitudes in the quality of clinical recommendations, operationalized as behaviors reflecting providers’ psychological investment in patient care (i.e., number of words used to describe clinical recommendations, and number of treatment options recommended). Two-hundred-and-ten White medical trainees reviewed a clinical vignette of either a White or Black male patient and provided clinical recommendations. Their implicit racial attitudes were evaluated using the Implicit Association Test. Participants with more biased implicit racial attitudes (i.e., stronger implicit preference for White vs. Black individuals) used fewer words to describe their clinical recommendations and provided fewer clinical recommendations for the Black (vs. White) patient, while there were no significant differences between Black and White patients among participants with less biased implicit racial attitudes. These results illustrate the insidious impact of implicit racial attitudes in healthcare provision and underscore the need for researchers to consider the complex, nuanced ways in which provider implicit racial attitudes might manifest in clinical decision-making.
期刊介绍:
Social Science & Medicine provides an international and interdisciplinary forum for the dissemination of social science research on health. We publish original research articles (both empirical and theoretical), reviews, position papers and commentaries on health issues, to inform current research, policy and practice in all areas of common interest to social scientists, health practitioners, and policy makers. The journal publishes material relevant to any aspect of health from a wide range of social science disciplines (anthropology, economics, epidemiology, geography, policy, psychology, and sociology), and material relevant to the social sciences from any of the professions concerned with physical and mental health, health care, clinical practice, and health policy and organization. We encourage material which is of general interest to an international readership.