HOUSTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- African-Americans are less likely to raise concerns and ask questions of their physicians, suggests a U.S. study.
Study leader Dr. Howard S. Gordon, of the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Baylor College of Medicine, in Houston, Texas, investigated how race influenced doctor-patient communication. The investigators reviewed, transcribed and analyzed audiotapes from 137 separate doctor-patient consultations involving lung cancer and suspicious lung lesions.
The study, published in Tuesday's Cancer, found that the degree of patient engagement with the physician impacted the frequency of information provided by physicians but race did not, despite the finding that African-Americans received less information. While there was no difference in the amount of information when that information was initiated by the physician, there were differences in the amount of physician information provided when prompted by the patient.
African-Americans were less likely than Caucasians to ask questions or raise concerns to their physicians and to bring a friend or family member to the appointment. However, when doctors and patients were of the same race, any disparity in physician information provided disappeared, according to Gordon.
