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A study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers suggests that African-American patients with high blood pressure communicate less effectively with their physicians, and their physicians with them, than their white counterparts, United Press International reports. Published in the September issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the study was based on an analysis of audio recordings of interactions between 226 patients with high blood pressure and their 39 physicians from 15 primary care practices in Baltimore. According to the analysis, African-American patients had shorter office visits, fewer biomedical and psychosocial exchanges, and less rapport building with their physicians than white patients. In addition, interactions between physicians and African-American patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure were poorer than interactions between African Americans whose blood pressure was controlled by medication, but the researchers observed no difference among white patients based on blood pressure control. Measuring "patient positive affect," which grades patients' interest, friendliness, engagement, sympathy and assertiveness behaviors, the researchers found that African Americans with uncontrolled blood pressure scored lower than any of the other patient groups. Commenting on the results, the study's lead author notes that "in general blacks talk less overall to their physicians than white patients," resulting in less communication regarding important health topics. The lead author suggests that such disparities may exist because African-American patients "might not trust the physician or feel that they are 'disconnected' from their doctors," which in turn makes physicians less likely to engage. Based on the findings, the researchers conclude that patient race was more important than blood pressure control status in determining the quality of patient-physician communication. To that end, the researchers recommend testing interventions to improve patient-physician communication to reduce racial disparities in the care of patients with high blood pressure (UPI, 9/8/09; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill release, 9/1/09).