TY - JOUR
T1 - Patient race and psychotropic prescribing during medical encounters
AU - Sleath, Betsy
AU - Svarstad, Bonnie
AU - Roter, Debra
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by Agency for Health Care Policy and Research grant number R03 HS0749901. The authors would like to thank the members of the Collaborative Study Group of the Task Force on Doctor and Patient of the Society for General Internal Medicine for the use of the audio-tapes. The authors would also like to thank Matthew Englerth for his assistance and Betty Chewning, John Delamater, Emily Kane, and Jeanine Mount for comments on an earlier manuscript. Address correspondence to: Betsy Sleath, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Beard Hall CB #7360, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7360.
PY - 1998/7/1
Y1 - 1998/7/1
N2 - This paper examines how patient race, rating of physical and emotional health, expression of physical, emotional, and social problem symptoms, and physician perceptions of patients' physical health, emotional health, and social problems influence psychotropic prescribing in patients with chronic illness. Data were collected at 11 geographic areas in the United States and Canada. Patient visits were audio-tape recorded and research assistants interviewed each patient after their medical visit. Physicians completed self-administered questionnaires after each visit with a participating patient. Whites were significantly more likely to receive psychotropic prescriptions than non-whites (P < 0.05). Twenty percent of white and 13.5% of black patients received prescriptions for one or more psychotropic medications. Logistic regression techniques were used to predict psychotropic prescribing to white and non-white patients respectively. Patient expression of emotional symptoms and physician perceptions of patient emotional health significantly influenced psychotropic prescribing to white patients, whereas only patient expression of emotional symptoms significantly influenced psychotropic prescribing to non-white patients. Patient expression of physical and social problem symptoms and physician perceptions of patient physical health and social problems did not influence psychotropic prescribing to white or non-white patients. The paper emphasizes the importance of training primary care physicians to probe and to provide patients with an opportunity to discuss their emotional symptoms.
AB - This paper examines how patient race, rating of physical and emotional health, expression of physical, emotional, and social problem symptoms, and physician perceptions of patients' physical health, emotional health, and social problems influence psychotropic prescribing in patients with chronic illness. Data were collected at 11 geographic areas in the United States and Canada. Patient visits were audio-tape recorded and research assistants interviewed each patient after their medical visit. Physicians completed self-administered questionnaires after each visit with a participating patient. Whites were significantly more likely to receive psychotropic prescriptions than non-whites (P < 0.05). Twenty percent of white and 13.5% of black patients received prescriptions for one or more psychotropic medications. Logistic regression techniques were used to predict psychotropic prescribing to white and non-white patients respectively. Patient expression of emotional symptoms and physician perceptions of patient emotional health significantly influenced psychotropic prescribing to white patients, whereas only patient expression of emotional symptoms significantly influenced psychotropic prescribing to non-white patients. Patient expression of physical and social problem symptoms and physician perceptions of patient physical health and social problems did not influence psychotropic prescribing to white or non-white patients. The paper emphasizes the importance of training primary care physicians to probe and to provide patients with an opportunity to discuss their emotional symptoms.
KW - Medical encounter
KW - Patient race
KW - Psychotropic prescription
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U2 - 10.1016/S0738-3991(98)00030-5
DO - 10.1016/S0738-3991(98)00030-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 9791526
AN - SCOPUS:0031847692
SN - 0738-3991
VL - 34
SP - 227
EP - 238
JO - Patient Education and Counseling
JF - Patient Education and Counseling
IS - 3
ER -