What do we know about ethnic differences in medical treatment?
Ethnic differences in medical treatment are widely documented and broad in scope, having been observed for dozens of disparate conditions.
What drives the study of racial variations in health?
The study of racial variations in health is driven by a genetic model that assumes that race is a valid biological category, that the genes that determine race are linked with the genes that determine health, and that the health of a population is determined predominantly by biological factors.
Are there ethnic differences in response to multidisciplinary pain treatment?
For example, we have found ethnic differences in response to multidisciplinary pain treatment. Specifically, following a 4-week treatment, African–Americans and non-Hispanic whites both improved in depressive symptoms and pain-related interference; however, only non-Hispanic white participants reported reduced pain severity [41].
How do complex variables explain racial disparities in clinical pain?
A number of complex variables combine and help explain the disparities in clinical pain, both in patient perception and treatment. Ethnic disparities exist across a broad range of pain-related factors and are shaped by complex and interacting multifactorial variables.
How does race and ethnicity affect health care in the US?
NAM found that “racial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality health care than white people—even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of conditions are comparable.” By “lower-quality health care,” NAM meant the concrete, inferior care that physicians give their black patients.
How does race affect diagnosis?
Racial stereotyping of disease and use of race in clinical algorithms and treatment guidelines may lead to errors in clinical diagnosis and management (overtreatment or undertreatment and other delays in clinical care), which may perpetuate and potentially worsen health disparities.
How does racial disparities affect health care?
The data show that racial and ethnic minority groups, throughout the United States, experience higher rates of illness and death across a wide range of health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, asthma, and heart disease, when compared to their White counterparts.
Why is race important in healthcare?
Conversely, black physicians in the study believed that race is important for treatment decision-making, provides useful information for choosing medication, understanding disease risk, and is associated with social determinants (socioeconomic factors and cultural beliefs about illness) for the patients' health.
What race goes to therapy the most?
Outpatient mental health service use in the past year was highest for adults reporting two or more races (8.8 percent), white adults (7.8 percent), and American Indian or Alaska Native adults (7.7 percent), followed by black (4.7 percent), Hispanic (3.8 percent), and Asian (2.5 percent) adults.
What is the problem with race-based medicine?
However, Roberts traces race-based medicine to false assumptions about innate biological differences and to ugly justifications for slavery and medical exploitation. Today, race-based medicine diverts attention and resources from the social determinants that cause appalling racial gaps in health.
How are minorities affected by healthcare?
Minority Americans Have Lower Rates of Insurance Coverage and Less Access to Care Lack of health insurance is linked to less access to care and more negative care experiences for all Americans. Hispanics and African Americans are most at risk of being uninsured.
How does discrimination affect health care?
Racial and ethnic discrimination has a significant impact on the health of people of color, affecting mental health and contributing to high blood pressure, negative health behaviors, and early aging.
What causes racial health disparities?
Many providers identified health care system factors that lead to disparities, such as lacking a diverse workforce, lack of interpreters, poor access to care, time constraints, and systematic factors that lead to differences in quality of care delivered (such as differences between public and private hospitals).
Why does race matter in Medicine?
Conversely, black physicians in the study believed that race is important for treatment decision-making, provides useful information for choosing medication, understanding disease risk, and is associated with social determinants (socioeconomic factors and cultural beliefs about illness) for the patients' health.
How does ethnicity affect health?
Ethnic differences in health may vary between generations. For example, in some BME groups, rates of ill-health are worse among those born in the UK than in first generation migrants. Men born in South Asia are 50% more likely to have a heart attack or angina than men in the general population.
What is racial and ethnic disparities in health care?
The Institute of Medicine defines disparities as “racial or ethnic differences in the quality of health care that are not due to access-related factors or clinical needs, preferences, and appropriateness of intervention.” Racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive poorer quality care compared with nonminorities, even ...
Key Points
We assessed treatment and outcomes disparities among white, African American, and Hispanic patients with MM.
Abstract
The objective of the study was to assess racial disparities in the treatment and outcomes among white, African American, and Hispanic patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Patients with an MM diagnosis from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)–Medicare (2007-2013) database were included.
Introduction
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer formed by the proliferation of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow and can result in skeletal lesions and fractures as well as anemia, infections, or hypercalcemia. 1 MM accounts for approximately 10% of hematological malignancies.
Methods
This study was conducted using data from the SEER-Medicare database, which links 2 large, population-based databases at the patient level.
Results
The study included 4830 patients, comprising 3504 whites, 858 African Americans, and 468 Hispanics ( Figure 1 ).
Discussion
In the treatment of patients with MM, access to and rapid initiation of effective therapy is of paramount concern, and some racial disparities in treatment access or clinical outcomes have been previously reported, using older datasets with lesser representation of novel therapeutic agents.
Acknowledgments
The manuscript was prepared by Shelley Batts, an employee of Analysis Group, Inc.
Key Facts on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the issue of disparities in health and health care into sharp focus. The pandemic’s impacts have been uneven, with people of color bearing the heaviest burden in terms of negative impacts on health and well-being as well as economic impacts. However, health and health care disparities are not new.
Background: Racial Diversity within the U.S. Today
As of 2019, 43% of the total population in the United States were people of color (Figure 2).
What is ethnicity?
The concept of ethnicity is an attempt to further differentiate racial groups; however, like race, it carries its own historical, political, and social baggage. 10The current definition of ethnicity is arbitrary and ill defined.
Is socioeconomic position a determinant of health related outcomes?
There is good evidence that socioeconomic position is a stronger determinant of health-related outcomes than race. Several studies have shown that the effect of race/ethnicity on health outcomes tends to diminish significantly when socioeconomic position is controlled for and in some instances the race effect disappears.
Do minorities have lower quality of care than nonminorities?
In spite of significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of most chronic diseases, there is evidence that racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive lower quality of care than nonminori ties and that, patients of minority ethnicity experience greater morbidity and mortality from various chronic diseases than nonminorities. ...
Is it difficult to classify people into one race?
However, with the increase in the number of people that belong to multiple racial categories, it is increasingly difficult to classify individuals into 1 race category , which further complicates the interpretation of race effects in research studies.
Does perceived discrimination explain racial/ethnic differences in use of preventive care services?
First, that perceived discrimination may not explain racial/ethnic differences in use of preventive care services. Second, that lack of medical innovativeness may be a barrier to adoption of new technology in blacks and may explain observed differences in utilization of innovative medical technologies.
Why should ethnicity be considered when selecting and recommending treatments?
Given that ethnic groups may differ in the outcomes of specific treatments , ethnicity should be one factor that clinicians consider when selecting and recommending treatments. Future studies should also examine within-group differences and interactions with other relevant factors (e.g., sex and age).
What is perceived mistreatment?
Perceived mistreatment is associated with poorer health and may contribute to the initiation and maintenance of disparities in pain and ethnic minorities are at greater risk for experiencing mistreatment or discrimination [100,101].
How does culture shape pain?
Culture shapes many aspects of the experience of pain, including pain expression, lay remedies, social roles, expectations, perceptions of the medical system, when/how/where to seek care, healthcare practices, illness beliefs and behaviors, and receptivity to medical care interventions [2].