See Me, Hear Me: Racial Discrimination Among Women Seeking Breast Cancer Care

Abstract

Discrimination can contribute to worse health outcomes, but its prevalence in breast cancer is not well studied. We aimed to understand how women with stage I-III breast cancer faced discrimination in health care and everyday settings through a cross-sectional survey. 296 women, 178 (60%) Non-Hispanic White (NHW), 76 (26%) Non-Hispanic Black (NHB), and 42 (14%) Hispanic participated. NHB women reported significantly more discrimination in everyday life compared to NHW women (score 20.1 vs 16.1, p<.001) and Hispanic women (score 20.1 vs 16.0, p<.001). In the health care setting, NHB had statistically more frequent reports of being ignored (23.7% vs. 5.6%), treated with less respect (21.1% vs. 7.3%), and treated with less courtesy (18.7% vs. 6.2%; all P=<.001) when compared to NHW women. NHB women experience a higher degree of discrimination both inside and outside of health care. Further research to understand discrimination on breast cancer outcomes is warranted.