Black patients less likely to question doctors

[steppinthrax]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14345408/

Why do you guys think this is so. I have my own opinion but I was just curious what you guys thought. There seems to be some disparity here.

 

[Moonbeam]

The ones who question are all in jail, no?

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

1) Lung cancer is diagnosed later in blacks.

Many studies have found that black Americans are less likely than whites to receive certain medical treatments and tend to fare more poorly after being diagnosed with any number of diseases, including various types of cancer.

2) Lung cancer is one of the most lethal cancers . . . regardless of when it is diagnosed.

3) The study wasn't designed to answer what the Reuters writer thought was most interesting . . . why do blacks ask fewer questions.

There are a number of possible explanations for the racial disparity, according to Gordon and his colleagues. One is that black patients have less trust in their doctors; in an earlier study, the researchers found that African Americans did lack such trust ? partly because they thought their doctors were poor communicators.