Is physician-patient concordance associated with greater trust for women of low socioeconomic status?

Abstract

The authors examined the association between physician-patient concordance and patient trust for low socio-economic status women who were enrolled in Medicaid case management. The data were collected from October 2006 through March 2007 from a stratified random sample of 2,815 adult beneficiaries enrolled in North Carolina Medicaid's primary care case management delivery system. We limited our analyses to women enrolled in primary care, hence controlling for gender and social class as well as access to care. We were also able to control for the availability of minority providers. The findings revealed that the enrollee's race, education, and experiences seeking help with their health providers were significantly related to patient's trust of their physicians. Neither race concordance nor gender concordance improved trust. This may be because relatively few minority providers were included in the sample. These results extend research on physician-patient concordance by examining the relationship of both racial and gender concordance with patient trust while controlling for access and social class. Research on physician-patient concordance needs to account for multiple measures of social status, as well as differences in culture and communication styles between physicians and their patients.

The influence of patient–clinician ethnocultural and language concordance on continuity and quality of care: a cross-sectional analysis

“…With reference to relational continuity, past work has identified associations between different types of concordance and specific elements of the patient-clinician relationship, such as communication [42][43][44][45] or trust. 13,46 This study further substantiates that the patient-clinician relationship is strengthened when patients perceive shared commonalities with their clinician, such as personal beliefs, values, communication 13 and shared experiences. This may explain why concordant patients rate their primary care clinician as excellent 47 and are satisfied with their overall health care.…”

Quality of Life and Its Association With Treatment Satisfaction, Adherence to Medication, and Trust in Physician Among Patients With Hypertension

“…This finding is aligned with published results, among primary care patients, revealing significant relationships between race, education, and patient's trust of their physicians. 48 Other interesting findings that merit being highlighted are that several QOL domains including overall QOL, treatment satisfaction (effectiveness, convenience, and global satisfaction) as well as adherence were higher when trust in physician was greater. Thus, when aiming hypertension optimal control, prescribers need to consider trust development not only by providing correct treatment but also by creating a respectful and caring relationship with patients through sharing in decision-making and good communication skills.…”

Addressing Racial Biases in Medicine: A Review of the Literature, Critique, and Recommendations

“…The 2 major strategies to address racial disparities – and, relatedly, provider bias – are racial congruence and cultural competence training. It remains inconclusive whether patient-physician racial concordance improves patient trust 126 or health outcomes for minorities, 127,128 with a few exceptions (see, e.g., Alsan et al. ; 129 Hill et al.…”