Ethnic Concordance in Patient-Physician Communication: Experimental Evidence from Germany

Abstract

Minority group members tend to have more negative health outcomes compared to majority group members. As reducing health inequalities is a global imperative, research testing strategies to improve minority patient health outcomes are important. Evidence exists that ethnic concordance in patient-physician communication is statistically associated with positive outcomes for minority patients. Previous research has exclusively relied on non-experimental observational methods. The present study adds to this literature by presenting supplementary experimental evidence, thus increasing confidence in the causal interpretation of the relationships observed in previous studies. Individuals with Turkish migration backgrounds living in Germany (N = 256) were randomly assigned to a hypothetical medical consultation in which a physician, Dr. Thomas Kirsch ("German majority physician"; ethnic-discordance condition) or Dr. Çağdaş Kılıç ("Turkish minority physician"; ethnic-concordance condition) talked about lifestyle factors associated with chronic non-communicable diseases (tobacco smoking, an unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity). The analysis indicates that ethnic concordance improved belief in the physician, reduced reactance-related outcomes, and improved prevention-related knowledge transfer. Notably, the effect of ethnic concordance on knowledge was especially pronounced in low health-literacy participants. We discuss the implications related to the ongoing calls for a more diverse physician workforce.