Profession
ICU doctors less comfortable talking to black patients
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted July 7, 2008
Intensive care physicians find it more difficult to talk with black patients or their surrogates than their white counterparts and are less likely to have prognostic conversations with them, according to research presented at the American Thoracic Society's annual international conference in Toronto in May.
Doctors discussed prognoses with 58% of their white patients or their surrogates, but only 41% of black patients, according to the study. Further, physicians were 43% less likely to feel comfortable having these conversations with black patients and their families, regardless of whether the prognosis was good or bad.
In a statement, J. Daryl Thornton, MD, MPH, said the study "suggests there may be some underlying biases and/or discomfort among physicians that impacts their ability to have these difficult conversations with families." Dr. Thornton, who presented the findings, is an epidemiologist at the Case Western Reserve University MetroHealth Center for Reducing Health Disparities in Cleveland.
Researchers examined data gathered as part of the 1989-1994 Study to Understand Prognoses and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatment, which involved 9,105 patients and 1,241 doctors at five academic medical centers.
Dr. Thornton said the results should be replicated with new interviews.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/07/07/prbf0707.htm.
