Patient Race/Ethnicity and Quality of PatientPhysician Communication During Medical Visits
Rachel L. Johnson, MD, PhD,
Debra Roter, DrPH,
Neil R. Powe, MD, MBA and
Lisa A. Cooper, MD, MPH
At the time of the study, all the authors were with the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md. Additionally, Neil R. Powe and Lisa A. Cooper are with the Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Lisa A. Cooper, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2024 E Monument St, Ste 2-500, Baltimore, MD 212052223 (e-mail: lisa.cooper{at}jhmi.edu).
Objectives. We examined the association between patient race/ethnicityand patientphysician communication during medical visits.
Methods. We used audiotape and questionnaire data collectedin 1998 and 2002 to determine whether the quality of medical-visitcommunication differs among African American versus White patients.We analyzed data from 458 African American and White patientswho visited 61 physicians in the Baltimore, MdWashington,DCNorthern Virginia metropolitan area. Outcome measuresthat assessed the communication process, patient-centeredness,and emotional tone (affect) of the medical visit were derivedfrom audiotapes coded by independent raters.
Results. Physicians were 23% more verbally dominant and engagedin 33% less patient-centered communication with African Americanpatients than with White patients. Furthermore, both AfricanAmerican patients and their physicians exhibited lower levelsof positive affect than White patients and their physiciansdid.
Conclusions. Patientphysician communication during medicalvisits differs among African American versus White patients.Interventions that increase physicians patient-centerednessand awareness of affective cues with African Americans patientsand that activate African American patients to participate intheir health care are important strategies for addressing racial/ethnicdisparities in health care.
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