Racial differences in cardiac catheterization as a function of patients' beliefs

N.R. Kressin, B.-H. Chang, J. Whittle, E.D. Peterson, J.A. Clark, A.K. Rosen, M. Orner, T.C. Collins, L.G. Alley and L.A. Petersen

American Journal of Public Health, 2004, vol. 94, issue 12, 2091-2097

Abstract: Objectives. We examined racial differences in cardiac catheterization rates and reviewed whether patients' beliefs or other variables were associated with observed disparities. Methods. We did a prospective observational cohort study of 1045 White and African American patients at 5 Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers whose nuclear imaging studies indicated reversible cardiac ischemia. Results. There were few demographic differences between White and African American patients in our sample. African Americans were less likely than Whites to undergo cardiac catheterization. African Americans were more likely than Whites to indicate a strong reliance on religion and to report racial and social class discrimination and were less likely to indicate a generalized trust in people but did not differ from White patients on numerous other attitudes about health and health care. Neither sociodemographic or clinical characteristics nor patients' beliefs explained the observed disparities, but physicians' assessments of the procedure's importance and patients' likelihood of coronary disease seemed to account for differences not otherwise explained. Conclusions. Patients' preferences are not the likely source of racial disparities in the use of cardiac catheterization among veterans using VA care, but physicians' assessments warrant further attention.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2004:94:12:2091-2097_4

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().