Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Oct;8(5):1112-1118.
doi: 10.1007/s40615-020-00867-8. Epub 2020 Sep 14.

The Role of Social Cognition in Medical Decision Making with Asian American Patients

Ivy K Ho  1 , Jason S Lawrence  2
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Social Cognition in Medical Decision Making with Asian American Patients

Ivy K Ho et al. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial group in the USA, face a host of major health disparities. There are several reasons for these disparities, and one possible contributor is provider perceptions of Asian Americans, which in turn can affect their medical decision making when treating Asian American patients. There is evidence for the influence of provider perceptions on medical decision making among patients of other racial minority groups; however, literature on Asian American patients is lacking. The present paper addresses this gap in the literature by using social cognitive theory to outline the mechanisms through which provider perception of Asian American patients can affect diagnostic and treatment decisions. These mechanisms include stereotypes and implicit biases, illusory correlations, and cognitive load. Recommendations for future research and policy development are provided.

Keywords: Asian Americans; Health disparities; Medical decision making; Social cognition.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Lee E. The making of Asian America. New York: Simon & Schuster; 2015.
    1. Lopez G, Ruiz NG, Patten, E. Key facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population. Available from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/08/key-facts-about-asian-am.... Published 2017. Accessed November 20, 19.
    1. Ramakrishnan K, Shah S. One out of 7 Asian immigrants is undocumented. Retrieved from http://aapidata.com/blog/asian-undoc-1in7. Published 2017. Accessed January 15, 2020.
    1. McCracken M, Olsen M, Chen MS, et al. Cancer incidence, mortality, and associated risk factors among Asian Americans of Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese ethnicities. CA Cancer J Clin. 2007;57:190–205. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.57.4.190. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kocchar R, Cilluffo A. Income inequality in the U.S. is rising rapidly among Asians. Available from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/07/12/income-inequality-in-the-u-s-i.... Published 2018. Accessed August 22, 2019.