U.Va. Report: Nearly Half Of Med Students Studied Believe Black People Feel Less Pain Than Whites
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New research is out that could help explain why African Americans are often undertreated for pain, as various studies have shown. It comes from theUniversity of Virginia, and attributes this discrepancy to a startling bias: Some*medical professionals believe there are*biological differences between whites and blacks that direct their courses of treatment.
“A*substantial number of white laypeople and medical students and residents hold false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites, and demonstrates that these beliefs predict racial bias in pain perception and treatment recommendation accuracy,” the research notes.
According to the*school,*the survey, led by*Kelly M. Hoffman,*a sixth-year doctoral candidate (ABD) in the social psychology program at the University of Virginia,*asked 222*white medical students and residents to rate on a scale of zero to 10 the pain levels they would associate with two mock medical cases — a kidney stone and a leg fracture — for both a white and a black patient, and*“to recommend pain treatments based on the level of pain they thought the patients might be experiencing.”
The survey*also asked them whether they*believed certain statements about*whites and blacks were true, e.g., black people age more slowly than whites, black people have less sensitive nerve endings and black people’s blood coagulates more quickly. Surprisingly, over 100 students believed these fallacies to be factual.
Those who believed that information to be true*rated black patients’ pain lower than they did white patients’.
“Many previous studies have shown that black Americans are undertreated … because physicians might assume black patients might abuse the medications or because they might not recognize the pain of their black patients in the first place,”said*Hoffman.
“Our study provides some insight to what might contribute to (disparities between races) – false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites,” Hoffman said. “The good news is that individuals who do not endorse these false beliefs do not show any evidence of racial bias in treatment recommendations. Future work will need to test whether challenging these beliefs could lead to better treatment and outcomes for black patients.”
Alexandra Samuels is a student at University of Texas at Austin and a USA TODAY College breaking news correspondent.
“A*substantial number of white laypeople and medical students and residents hold false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites, and demonstrates that these beliefs predict racial bias in pain perception and treatment recommendation accuracy,” the research notes.
According to the*school,*the survey, led by*Kelly M. Hoffman,*a sixth-year doctoral candidate (ABD) in the social psychology program at the University of Virginia,*asked 222*white medical students and residents to rate on a scale of zero to 10 the pain levels they would associate with two mock medical cases — a kidney stone and a leg fracture — for both a white and a black patient, and*“to recommend pain treatments based on the level of pain they thought the patients might be experiencing.”
The survey*also asked them whether they*believed certain statements about*whites and blacks were true, e.g., black people age more slowly than whites, black people have less sensitive nerve endings and black people’s blood coagulates more quickly. Surprisingly, over 100 students believed these fallacies to be factual.
Those who believed that information to be true*rated black patients’ pain lower than they did white patients’.
“Many previous studies have shown that black Americans are undertreated … because physicians might assume black patients might abuse the medications or because they might not recognize the pain of their black patients in the first place,”said*Hoffman.
“Our study provides some insight to what might contribute to (disparities between races) – false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites,” Hoffman said. “The good news is that individuals who do not endorse these false beliefs do not show any evidence of racial bias in treatment recommendations. Future work will need to test whether challenging these beliefs could lead to better treatment and outcomes for black patients.”
Alexandra Samuels is a student at University of Texas at Austin and a USA TODAY College breaking news correspondent.
Comments
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It's the extra bone in our bodies that does it
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U cant make that ? up lol smh
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My guess is they must think we are super human.. From watching Michael Jordan, Jackson, Tyson, Lebron, etc do superhuman things... This is complete nonsense smh..
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The only thing that matters is gween...
Racism dont exist its all about class... -
Its true
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read something similar a while back about white pain being taken more seriously than blk pain
Also doctors tend to spend less time listening to blk patients than non blk patients; a fact proven in numerous studies
makes you wonder how many blk lives have been stunted and lost because either some doctor didn't take their pain seriously and there was a misdiagnosis
@zzombie this is somehow our fault, right? -
I remember researching some articles about this ? a while back. Apparently, black folks are more likely to be under-treated because of this nonsense.
Remember when Darren Wilson said that ? about how he felt threatened near Mike Brown because he thought he had "superhuman" qualities? Same ? . White folks created this myth that we lack the ability to perceive physical and emotional pain that other races do, thus making us subhuman; the brute stereotype. You see this ? being reinforced in our media day in day out. Look at how Mike Tyson was portrayed.
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desertrain10 wrote: »read something similar a while back about white pain being taken more seriously than blk pain
Also doctors tend to spend less time listening to blk patients than non blk patients; a fact proven in numerous studies
makes you wonder how many blk lives have been stunted and lost because either some doctor didn't take their pain seriously and there was a misdiagnosis
@zzombie this is somehow our fault, right?
This no lots of other more important things yes -
desertrain10 wrote: »read something similar a while back about white pain being taken more seriously than blk pain
Also doctors tend to spend less time listening to blk patients than non blk patients; a fact proven in numerous studies
makes you wonder how many blk lives have been stunted and lost because either some doctor didn't take their pain seriously and there was a misdiagnosis
@zzombie this is somehow our fault, right?
Facts on facts .
Ive been misdiagnosed plenty of times by doctors. To the point i only see alternative doctors nowadays.
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Must suck to be black
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This is why it's imperative to seek out--consult a black physician (if available). After centuries of media brainwashing, white (people) physicians simply don't have empathy for black patients.
Ditto for law enforcement, ditto for the judicial system; Ditto for every industry where the "presumption" implies we'll be treated fairly.
? 's been going on for over 300 years, and won't end anytime soon. -
Black people do age more slower we are generally stronger faster ....
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desertrain10 wrote: »read something similar a while back about white pain being taken more seriously than blk pain
Also doctors tend to spend less time listening to blk patients than non blk patients; a fact proven in numerous studies
makes you wonder how many blk lives have been stunted and lost because either some doctor didn't take their pain seriously and there was a misdiagnosis
@zzombie this is somehow our fault, right?
Facts on facts .
Ive been misdiagnosed plenty of times by doctors. To the point i only see alternative doctors nowadays.
Exactly.
Bruh I kid you not. Me and girl brought our son to the ER. This whit Doctor I felt was trying to rush us out and ? .
I mean dude, we pay good insurance for him. I had to request another doctor.
They gave us a black lady. She asked more questions about what's wrong with my son and how he's be acting over the last cpl day in 2 minutes than 20 minutes with the old white dude. -
This belief has persisted since slavery. Crackers truly believed we were subhuman and were beast of burden smfh
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blackgod813 wrote: »Black people do age more slower we are generally stronger faster ....
Some of us have X ray vision and can see through walls -
The irony is ? always talking that melanin theory ? which also argues that black folks are superhuman.
Why we gotta be X-Men? -
desertrain10 wrote: »read something similar a while back about white pain being taken more seriously than blk pain
Also doctors tend to spend less time listening to blk patients than non blk patients; a fact proven in numerous studies
makes you wonder how many blk lives have been stunted and lost because either some doctor didn't take their pain seriously and there was a misdiagnosis
@zzombie this is somehow our fault, right?
This no lots of other more important things yes
More important things? Such as?
Going back to the days of Jim Crow I'm going to assume millions of blks have been left in either debt, stunted or dead because of some doctors prejudices and structural racism in the healthcare system ...so I would say this a pretty urgent concern
Or are you referring to the rampant racism in the housing and banking industry?
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Racism exists in every ? and crevice of amerikkka so why do ? think that it stops at the doctors office
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Sounds like a cheap justification for malpractice..
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HundredEyes wrote: »U cant make that ? up lol smh
Pretty much. You just gotta laugh, shake ya head and move on.
Either that or shoot some ? up.
Or...spew venom and be a fake militant on the Internet. I guess that's another option. -
desertrain10 wrote: »desertrain10 wrote: »read something similar a while back about white pain being taken more seriously than blk pain
Also doctors tend to spend less time listening to blk patients than non blk patients; a fact proven in numerous studies
makes you wonder how many blk lives have been stunted and lost because either some doctor didn't take their pain seriously and there was a misdiagnosis
@zzombie this is somehow our fault, right?
This no lots of other more important things yes
More important things? Such as?
Going back to the days of Jim Crow I'm going to assume millions of blks have been left in either debt, stunted or dead because of some doctors prejudices and structural racism in the healthcare system ...so I would say this a pretty urgent concern
Or are you referring to the rampant racism in the housing and banking industry?
what is more important ??? for starters not sending other black people to the emergency room in the first place
yes racism in the healthcare system is ? up and it should be stopped but the horrible violent and stupid behaviors in our communities is more destructive. -
desertrain10 wrote: »read something similar a while back about white pain being taken more seriously than blk pain
Also doctors tend to spend less time listening to blk patients than non blk patients; a fact proven in numerous studies
makes you wonder how many blk lives have been stunted and lost because either some doctor didn't take their pain seriously and there was a misdiagnosis
@zzombie this is somehow our fault, right?
Ay, pull up your bootstraps and learn to operate on yourself! Man us AA's are so lazy. -
This bullshitass reasoning is why they think they can shoot unarmed kids and unload the clip smh
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I came in here to say this. It gives them an excuse to fire their weapons on us.Sounds like a cheap justification for malpractice..
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Hey you people need to vote Republicans and stop looking to blame white doctors for everything.
You think Bernie sanders cares about your gout?
You black people just want free stuff like attention from your doctor.
High five @zzombie
Did I miss something?
