Abstract
Purpose
Little is known about the influence of processes of hospital care on racial and ethnic
differences in experiences with hospital care.
Subjects and methods
To determine whether patient experiences differed by race and ethnicity and whether
these differences were associated with hospital care characteristics, we analyzed
survey and hospital administrative data from 2664 adult patients after hospitalization
at an urban teaching hospital during 1998–1999. We assessed the association of patient
race and ethnicity with reporting problems in multiple dimensions of patient experience,
using logistic regression to adjust for sex, age, self-reported health status, insurance
status, income, route of hospital admission, and hospital service. We then stratified
adjusted analyses by hospital service.
Results
After adjustment for demographic and hospital characteristics, black (odds ratio (OR):
1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3–2.6) and Latino (OR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.3–3.0)
patients reported more problems with respect for their preferences compared to whites.
Blacks reported more problems with respect for their preferences (OR: 1.7; 95% CI:
1.0–3.0) among patients discharged from surgical services, and Latinos reported more
problems with respect for their preferences (OR:3.6; CI: 1.6–8.2) among patients discharged
from obstetrical services when compared to whites. Patient experiences did not significantly
differ by race among patients discharged from medical services.
Conclusions
We found significant racial and ethnic differences in patients’ experiences with hospital
care, particularly in respect for patient preferences. Our findings suggest physicians
and hospital staff should strive to understand and address the expectations of black
and Latino patients, particularly those who are hospitalized for surgical or obstetrical
issues.
Key words
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© 2005 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
