Patient Perceptions of Physician Education and Quality by Race

NCT04940234 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: IRB21-0682
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,500
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Research has documented positive effects of doctor-patient race concordance, suggesting that increasing diversity among healthcare professionals may play an important role in addressing well-documented racial health disparities in the US. It also remains critical to improve the quality of interactions in race discordant doctor-patient relationships. However, as health systems consider policies to increase the number of minority healthcare professionals, especially among doctors, questions about the equilibrium effects of such initiatives naturally emerge. In this project, the investigators examine whether and how patients vary their perceptions of healthcare professionals by race.

Conditions

Racism; Bias, Racial

Keywords

healthcare

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Willingness to Accept Medical Advice

  Survey respondents' willingness to accept the medical advice of the man in the photo.

  6 months

• Willingness to Participate in a Clinical Trial

  Survey respondents' willingness to participate in a clinical trial led by the man in the photo.

  6 months

• Education Perception

  Survey respondents' perceived education of the man in the photo.

  6 months

• Occupation Perception

  Survey respondents' perceived occupation of the man in the photo.

  6 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Willingness to Wait

  6 months

• Perceived Attractiveness

  6 months

Study Arms (4)

Black Expert

EXPERIMENTAL

Survey respondents are exposed to a Black person wearing expert attire.

Behavioral: Exposure to a Photo

Black Layperson

EXPERIMENTAL

Survey respondents are exposed to a Black person wearing layperson's attire.

Behavioral: Exposure to a Photo

White Expert

EXPERIMENTAL

Survey respondents are exposed to a white person wearing expert attire.

Behavioral: Exposure to a Photo

White Layperson

EXPERIMENTAL

Survey respondents are exposed to a white person wearing layperson's attire.

Behavioral: Exposure to a Photo

Interventions

Exposure to a Photo BEHAVIORAL

We plan to recruit subjects and randomly assign them to one of four treatments. In each treatment arm, the subject will view a photo of a man. We experimentally vary treatment along two dimensions: whether the man is wearing expert vs. layperson attire and whether the man is white vs. black. We will survey participants' beliefs about the actors' educational attainment and perceived quality as measured by subjects' willingness to accept medical advice for non-urgent health issues or participate in a clinical trial being led by the individual in the photo.

Black Expert; Black Layperson; White Expert; White Layperson

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 25 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• \- participant identifies as Black or White

You may not qualify if:

• participant doesn't identify as Black or White
• younger than 25 years old

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Harvard University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Harvard University

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Racism

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Prejudice; Social Behavior; Behavior; Social Discrimination

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 7, 2021
• First Posted: June 25, 2021
• Study Start: August 19, 2021
• Primary Completion: August 31, 2021
• Study Completion: October 1, 2021
• Last Updated: December 13, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)