Urban Health Today Editors

Urban Health Today

About one-quarter of medical/hematologic oncologists recognized the adverse role of racial anxiety and/or implicit bias (RA/IB) on standard of care treatment decisions for patients who are people of color or ethnic minorities, according to an <a href="https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/embargo/record/201839/abstract">abstract</a> from the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Quality Care Symposium.Ajeet Gajra, MD, FACP, of Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, N.Y., and colleagues surveyed 369 U.S.-based medical/hematologic oncologists on their perceptions regarding cancer care and outcomes in racial and ethnic minority patients as part of a broader survey of various clinical and practice-related concerns.The majority of survey respondents (72%) worked in community oncology, and most were aged 40 to 59 years (64%). About one-third were White (32%) and one-third Asian (33%), with smaller percentages identifying as Black (7%) or Hispanic/Latinx (4%); 19% declined to disclose.Survey respondents appeared to be split in their perception of the degree of racial/ethnic healthcare disparity experienced by people of color and ethnic minorities, with 33% saying disparity is moderate, 29% very high/high, 29% low/none, and 8% declining to answer. Looking at their own practice, 58% said RA/IB only rarely or never affected survival among racial/ethnic minority patients, 33% said very often/almost always, often, or sometimes, and 9% declined to answer.This lower likelihood of perceiving RA/IB in their own practice suggests a need for better identification, Gajra and colleagues suggested.Respondents were also asked to assess the frequency of which RA/IB affected certain treatment decisions. RA/IB very often/almost always, often, and sometimes affected clinical trial referral (35%), palliative/hospice care (31%), novel therapeutic regimen versus standard of care selection (28%), surgical treatment recommendation (26%), and genetic/genomic testing referral (24%).The researchers noted that 19% of respondents decline to identify their own race/ethnicity and 10% consistently declined to answer all treatment decision-making questions related to disparity. This suggests &ldquo;mistrust or apprehension in expressing true views&rdquo;, the researchers wrote.

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About one-quarter of medical/hematologic oncologists recognized the adverse role of racial anxiety and/or implicit bias ...

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