University of Central Florida, Nicholson School of Communication, Orlando, FL 32816-1344, USA.
Patient Educ Couns. 2011 Feb;82(2):201-6. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2010.04.037. Epub 2010 Jun 26.
This study explored Kenyan patients' perspectives on the role of ethnicity in the doctor-patient relationship.
221 participants completed questionnaires on ethnicity in doctor-patient relationships; eight focus groups were held with low- and middle-income urban and rural women.
About half of participants expressed no preference for doctor ethnicity. Participants rated demographic factors as less important than factors related to the doctor's qualifications, communication skills, and cost of service. Those who did indicate a preference were more likely to prefer Indian doctors for eye problems and Europeans for major surgery, cancer, and heart problems. With less severe medical issues participants were more likely to prefer a doctor who was ethnically concordant with them. Reasons for this centered around communication issues. In contrast, several focus group participants did not want to be treated by doctors from their own ethnic group because of concerns about confidentiality.
Additional research is needed on negative implications of patient-provider concordance.
Medical service providers must be aware of concerns about ethnic concordance. Alternatively medical centers that deal with sensitive medical information need to consider hiring staff who are not of the majority ethnic group in their region.
本研究探讨了肯尼亚患者对族裔在医患关系中所扮演角色的看法。
221 名参与者完成了关于医患关系中族裔问题的问卷；8 个焦点小组由城市和农村低收入群体的女性组成。
约一半的参与者表示对医生族裔没有偏好。参与者将人口统计学因素的重要性评级低于与医生资格、沟通技巧和服务费用相关的因素。那些表示有偏好的人更倾向于选择印度医生看眼科问题，选择欧洲医生看重大手术、癌症和心脏问题。对于不太严重的医疗问题，参与者更倾向于选择与他们族裔相同的医生。这主要是因为沟通问题。相比之下，几个焦点小组的参与者不想接受来自自己族裔的医生治疗，因为他们担心保密性。
需要进一步研究患者与提供者一致的负面含义。
医疗服务提供者必须意识到与族裔一致相关的问题。或者，处理敏感医疗信息的医疗中心需要考虑雇用不是所在地区主要族裔的员工。
