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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Dora L. Hughes, MD, MPH1, Karen Scott Collins, MD, MPH1, and Allyson Gail Hall, PhD2. (1) The Commonwealth Fund, 1 East 75 Street, New York, NY 10021, 212-606-3862, DLH@cmwf.org, (2) United Hospital Fund, Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10118
Methods: The Commonwealth Fund 2001 Healthcare Quality Survey, a national survey of 6722 adults with over-samples of 669 Asian American, 1037 African American and 1153 Hispanic adults, was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, May –November 2001. This telephone, random digit-dial survey explored various domains of quality of health care for minority populations. These domains included minority populations’ experiences within the health care system and overall satisfaction, health beliefs and practices, patient-physician communication, and cultural competency.
Findings: Minority patient populations were more likely to report communication problems compared to whites For example, among those with a health care visit in the past two years: • Thirty-three percent of Hispanics, 26 percent of Asian Americans and 23 percent of African Americans compared with 16 percent of white adults reported one or more problems with communication • Eighteen percent of Hispanics, 16 percent of African Americans and 13 percent of Asian Americans compared with 9 percent of whites reported that they had been treated with disrespect. • Asian Americans were least likely to feel their doctor understands their background and values (48% compared with 58% total U.S.) and most likely to report that their doctor “looks down on them” (21% compared with 11% total U.S.). • Hispanics and Asian Americans were less likely to report having as much time with their doctor as they wanted and less involvement in decisions about their health than they wanted. • Fifteen percent of African Americans, 13 percent of Hispanics and 11 percent of Asian Americans feel they would have gotten better care if they had been of a different race or ethnicity. • All minorities were less satisfied with overall care: 61% of African Americans, 56% of Hispanics and 45 % percent of Asian Americans compared with 65 %of whites report being “very satisfied” with their care.
In addition, marked differences in patient health beliefs and practices were found which may explain variation in patient-physician communication. For example, African Americans (24%), Hispanics (26%) and Asian Americans (19%) were more likely to “strongly agree” that staying healthy is a matter of luck when compared to whites (12%).
Conclusion: Quality health care is dependent on effective communication and positive interactions between patients and providers. These survey findings reveal both areas to be deficient for minority patients and provide opportunities for improvement.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Quality of Care, Minority Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.