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Commission to Build a Healthier America Public Meeting
Join the Commission on June 19, 2013 for a public meeting to raise awareness of how non-medical factors influence health and move public- an...
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Perceived Discrimination and Self-Reported Quality of Care Among Latinos in the United States
In this article, the authors investigate the relationship between perceived discrimination (in general and as it relates to physicians and medical personnel), and self-reported quality of health care among Latinos. The study found that U.S.-born Latinos reported higher rates of discrimination and lower quality of care than foreign-born Latinos.
Researchers conducted telephone interviews of 1,067 Latino adults age 18 years and older, as part of the Pew Hispanic Center/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Hispanic Healthcare Survey. Using the Detroit Area Survey discrimination scale, they found that U.S.-born Latinos scored 9.3 versus 4.7 on the scale. For foreign-born Latinos, the effect of discrimination on doctor-patient communication was significantly smaller than that found in U.S.-born Latinos.
Discrimination is related to the quality of care and as such is important to address for Latinos.