Journal Article

Racial-Ethnic Biases, Time Pressure, and Medical Decisions

Stepanikova, Irena

2012

Overview

This study examined two types of potential sources of racial-ethnic disparities in medical care: implicit biases and time pressure. Eighty-one family physicians and general internists responded to a case vignette describing a patient with chest pain. Time pressure was manipulated experimentally. Under high time pressure, but not under low time pressure, implicit biases regarding blacks and Hispanics led to a less serious diagnosis. In addition, implicit biases regarding blacks led to a lower likelihood of a referral to specialist when physicians were under high time pressure. The results suggest that when physicians face stress, their implicit biases may shape medical decisions in ways that disadvantage minority patients.

• Publisher: Sage Publications,SAGE Publications,American Sociological Association
• Subject: African Americans / African Americans - statistics & numerical data / Behavioral Science Research / Behavioral Sciences / Beliefs / Bias / Biological and medical sciences / Black people / Chest pain / Chest Pain - diagnosis / Chest Pain - ethnology / Classroom Environment / Clinical Diagnosis / Cognitive Structures / Continental Population Groups - statistics & numerical data / Decision Making / Disadvantaged / Doctors / Educational Strategies / Ethnic differences / Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data / Ethnicity / European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data / Evidence / Family / Family physicians / Family Practice (Medicine) / Female / General practitioners / Health care / Health Care Services / Health services / Healthcare Disparities - ethnology / Hispanic Americans / Hispanic Americans - statistics & numerical data / Hispanic people / Hispanics / Humans / Information Processing / Latin American cultural groups / Male / Medical Decision Making / Medical diagnosis / Medical practice / Medical referrals / Medical sciences / Medical Services / Medical Settings and the Medical Profession / Medicine / Minority Groups / Multiracial Persons / Pain / Patients / Physician Patient Relationship / Physicians / Predictive Validity / Prejudices / Pressure / Prevention and actions / Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data / Public health. Hygiene / Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine / Racial Attitudes / Racial bias / Racial Differences / Racial Identification / Racial inequality / Racism / Racism - statistics & numerical data / Referral / Referrals / Resistance (Psychology) / Social Bias / Social biases / Social Desirability / Social psychology / Socioeconomic Background / Sociology / Specialists / Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly…) / Stereotypes / Stress Variables / Studies / Subliminal perception / Symptoms (Individual Disorders) / Time / Time Factors / Time Management / Time pressure / Vignettes