Race differences in patient trust and distrust from audio-recorded cardiology encounters.
PATIENT EDUCATION AND COUNSELING 2024;
119:108083. [PMID:
37989068 PMCID:
PMC10842896 DOI:
10.1016/j.pec.2023.108083]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Many have reported racial disparities in self-reported trust in clinicians but have not directly assessed expressions of trust and distrust in physician-patient encounters. We created a codebook to examine racial differences in patient trust and distrust through audio-recorded cardiologist-patient interactions.
METHODS
We analyzed data from a randomized controlled trial of audio-recorded outpatient cardiology encounters (50 White and 51 Black patients). We created a codebook for trust and distrust that was applied to recordings between White cardiologists and White and Black patients. We assessed differences in trust, distrust, and guardedness while adjusting for patient age, sex, and first appointment with the cardiologist.
RESULTS
Compared to White patients, Black patients had significantly lower expressions of trust ([IRR] [95 % CI]: 0.59 [0.41, 0.84]) and a significantly lower mean guarded/open score ([β] [95 % CI] -0.38 [-0.71, -0.04]). There was no statistically significant association between race and odds of at least one distrustful expression (OR [95 % CI] 1.36 [0.37, 4.94]).
CONCLUSION AND PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
We found that coders can reliably identify patient expressions of trust and distrust rather than relying on problematic self-reported measures. Results suggest that White clinicians can improve their communication with Black patients to increase expressions of trust.
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