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. 2013 Jun;45(3):308-17.
doi: 10.1007/s12160-013-9475-9.

Effects of patient-provider race concordance and smoking status on lung cancer risk perception accuracy among African-Americans

Susan Persky  1 , Kimberly A Kaphingst, Vincent C Allen Jr, Ibrahim Senay
Affiliations

Effects of patient-provider race concordance and smoking status on lung cancer risk perception accuracy among African-Americans

Susan Persky et al. Ann Behav Med. 2013 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Communication of lung cancer risk information between providers and African-American patients occurs in a context marked by race-based health disparities.

Purpose: A controlled experiment assessed whether perceived physician race influenced African-American patients' (n = 127) risk perception accuracy following the provision of objective lung cancer risk information.

Methods: Participants interacted with a virtual reality-based, simulated physician who provided personalized cancer risk information.

Results: Participants who interacted with a racially discordant virtual doctor were less accurate in their risk perceptions at post-test than those who interacted with a concordant virtual doctor, F(1,94) = 4.02, p = .048. This effect was amplified among current smokers. Effects were not mediated by trust in the provider, engagement with the health care system, or attention during the encounter.

Conclusions: The current study demonstrates that African-American patients' perceptions of a doctor's race are sufficient to independently impact their processing of lung cancer risk information.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Racially concordant and racially discordant versions of the virtual reality physician
Figure 2
Figure 2
Risk perception inaccuracy by condition and smoking status, raw means. Bars represent standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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