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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A trip to the intensive care unit is frightening for all patients, and information and communication is vital. But studies have shown that blacks dont get the same level of communication from the doctor when a family member is in intensive care as whites.
According to data collected from five medical centers across the country, researchers found that after accounting for factors like severity of illness and insurance status, ICU physicians reported discussing serious end-of-life medical decisions with black families 48 percent of the time, as opposed to 58 percent of the time when they were dealing with whites.
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J. Daryl Thornton, M.D., M.P.H., of the Center of Reducing Health Disparities at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University, acknowledges the study was done several years ago, but he believes the issue needs to be revisited.
The findings should be replicated, Dr. Thornton was quoted as saying, and would be an important area for understanding the effects of physician biases on decision making, communication and patient outcomes in the ICU.
The study has previously shown ICU doctors were less likely to predict their black patients would survive, even though they were more likely to. They also admitted to having end-of-life medical discussions less often with blacks and, when they did have them, of being uncomfortable.
Our study suggests there may be some underlying biases and/or discomfort among physicians which impacts their ability to have these difficult conversations with families, said Thornton. By having a detailed understanding of the components of this intricate relationship, interventions can be implemented to enable the provision of more culturally sensitive and equitable care in the ICU.
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SOURCE: American Thoracic Societys 2008 International Conference in Toronto, May 16-21, 2008
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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