Patients' implicit biases about a physician's race and gender may influence their response to treatments, even when their overt attitudes about these providers are positive, according to a study published June 27 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
For the study, researchers assessed the physiological responses of 187 white patients being treated for laboratory-induced allergic reactions. The patients were randomly assigned to interact with a male or female and Asian, Black or white healthcare provider who applied a placebo cream that patients were told would relieve the reaction.
When female and Black providers applied the cream, patients' allergic reactions continued to increase at a greater rate than when applied by white, Asian and male providers.
"Even when white patients' overt attitudes toward Black and women providers were positive, we found that they were less physiologically responsive to the treatment administered by these providers," researchers said. "These results illustrate how notions of race and gender can influence patients beneath the surface — literally under the skin — despite their professed intentions and even to their own detriment."
More research is needed to understand how these race and gender dynamics play out over time, researchers said.