A new analysis of data from the KFF Racism, Discrimination and Health Survey shows that Black women are more likely than other groups to report being treated unfairly by a health care provider in recent years because of their race and ethnicity and that these experiences have negative health effects have consequences.
For example, 34% of Black women who have sought health care in the past three years report at least one of three consequences from a negative experience with a health care provider for any reason: worse health (13%), less likely to do so do seek care (19%) or change providers (27%).
The results change with the health status of Black women: Black women who describe their physical and/or mental health as fair or poor are more likely than those who report better health to say that a negative experience led to poorer health, and are less likely to seek medical help or change providers in the last three years. In fact, about half (49%) of Black women with fair or poor mental health report experiencing at least one of these outcomes.
Although most Black women overall report positive experiences with health care, they are more likely than other groups to report being treated unfairly by a health care provider because of their race and ethnicity (21%) and say they prepare themselves for possible insults or need to pay close attention to their appearance in order to be treated fairly during doctor visits (61%). The survey suggests that such preparations – behaviors documented in other research areas as “heightened alertness” – could be a response to previous experiences.
Given the importance of racial and ethnic diversity in healthcare, a shared racial and ethnic background between provider and patient is associated with more positive interactions for Black women. The survey found that Black women who have more health care visits with providers who share their race and ethnicity report more frequent positive and respectful interactions.
The KFF Racism, Discrimination and Health Survey is a probability-based survey conducted online and by telephone from June 6 to August 7, 2023 with a total of 1,306 women who identify as Black. Respondents were contacted by mail or telephone; and had the choice of completing the survey in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese. The survey methodology was developed by KFF researchers in collaboration with SSRS, and SSRS managed sampling, data collection, weighting and tabulation. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points for results based on the sample of black women.
Additional resources from the Racism, Discrimination and Health Survey: