Citation

Klassen AC, Smith KC, Shariff-Marco S, Juon HS. Int. J. Equity Health 2008; 7.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1475-9276-7-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Background. Perceived racial discrimination is one factor which may discourage ethnic minorities from using healthcare. However, existing research only partially explains why some persons do accept health promotion messages and use preventive care, while others do not. This analysis explores 1) the psychosocial characteristics of those, within disadvantaged groups, who identify their previous experiences as racially discriminatory, 2) the extent to which perceived racism is associated with broader perspectives on societal racism and powerlessness, and 3) how these views relate to disadvantaged groups' expectation of mistreatment in healthcare, feelings of mistrust, and motivation to use care.

METHODS. Using survey data from 576 African-American women, we explored the prevalence and predictors of beliefs and experiences related to social disengagement, racial discrimination, desired and actual racial concordance with medical providers, and fear of medical research. We then used both sociodemographic characteristics, and experiences and attitudes about disadvantage, to model respondents' scores on an index of personal motivation to receive breast cancer screening, measuring screening knowledge, rejection of fatalistic explanatory models of cancer, and belief in early detection, and in collaborative models of patient-provider responsibility.

RESULTS. Age was associated with lower motivation to screen, as were depressive symptoms, anomie, and fear of medical research. Motivation was low among those more comfortable with African-American providers, regardless of current provider race. However, greater awareness of societal racism positively predicted motivation, as did talking to others when experiencing discrimination. Talking was most useful for women with depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION. Supporting the Durkheimian concepts of both anomic and altruistic suicide, both disengagement (depression, anomie, vulnerability to victimization, and discomfort with non-Black physicians) as well as over-acceptance (low awareness of discrimination in society) predict poor health maintenance attitudes in disadvantaged women. Women who recognize their connection to other African-American women, and who talk about negative experiences, appear most motivated to protect their health. © 2008 Klassen et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

attitude; adult; human; racism; suicide; female; aged; depression; prevalence; health; knowledge; scoring system; society; experience; prediction; awareness; African American; race; motivation; article; controlled study; physician; responsibility; fear; social problem; breast cancer; medical research; fatality; health care personnel; cross-sectional study; demography; prophylaxis; altruism; cancer diagnosis; cancer screening; lowest income group; predictor variable; explanatory variable; cancer model