The impact of patients' perceptions of discrimination in healthcare on patient-provider interactions is unknown.
To examine association of past perceived discrimination with subsequent patient-provider communication.
Observational cross-sectional study.
African-American (N=100) and white (N=253) patients treated for osteoarthritis by orthopedic surgeons (N=63) in 2 Veterans Affairs facilities.
Patients were surveyed about past experiences with racism and classism in healthcare settings before a clinic visit. Visits were audio-recorded and coded for instrumental and affective communication content (biomedical exchange, psychosocial exchange, rapport-building, and patient engagement/activation) and nonverbal affective tone. After the encounter, patients rated visit informativeness, provider warmth/respectfulness, and ease of communicating with the provider. Regression models stratified by patient race assessed the associations of racism and classism with communication outcomes.
Perceived racism and classism were reported by more African-American patients than by white patients (racism: 70% vs. 26% and classism: 73% vs. 53%). High levels of perceived racism among African-American patients was associated with less positive nonverbal affect among patients [β=-0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI)=-0.73 to -0.09] and providers (β=-0.34, 95% CI=-0.66 to -0.01) and with low patient ratings of provider warmth/respectfulness [odds ratio (OR)=0.19, 95% CI=0.05-0.72] and ease of communication (OR=0.22, 95% CI=0.07-0.67). Any perceived racism among white patients was associated with less psychosocial communication (β=-4.18, 95% CI=-7.68 to -0.68), and with low patient ratings of visit informativeness (OR=0.40, 95% CI=0.23-0.71) and ease of communication (OR=0.43, 95% CI=0.20-0.89). Perceived classism yielded similar results.
Perceptions of past racism and classism in healthcare settings may negatively impact the affective tone of subsequent patient-provider communication.