Taken for Granted?
Study: Blacks, Women Less Likely To Receive Medical Tests

The researchers found that 55 percent of non-black men were given a heart-monitoring test, compared with 42 percent of black men who received the same test.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Blacks, women and uninsured people who sought treatment for chest pain in emergency departments were less likely than others to be given certain diagnostic tests including chest X-rays, a new national study says.
But the authors of the study released Thursday cautioned that more research is needed before the numbers can be interpreted as signs of racism and sexism.
The study, which appears in the February issue of Academic Emergency Medicine, tracked 7,068 people ages 30 or older who visited an emergency department between 1995 and 2000 due to chest pain.
The researchers found that 55 percent of non-black men were given a heart-monitoring test, compared with 42 percent of black men who received the same test.
They found 47 percent of non-black women received the test, while 38 percent of black women did.
Dr. Gary Green, one of the study’s co-authors, said it’s tempting but inaccurate to assume the cause is white male doctors who are racist or sexist. The decision to administer these tests is often made before the doctor even sees the patient, he said.
"I think it starts at the doors to the emergency room," said Green, who teaches emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. "There’s a complex set of information that nurses, the registrar, have to consider in trying to determine the probability this patient is having a heart attack."
Those factors may include the patient’s history, risk factors and age, he said.
Still, disparities persist in the administration of the four tests — chest X-rays, heart monitoring, electrocardiograms and pulse oximetry, which measures oxygen in the blood.
For example, the adjusted probability of receiving any of the tests was 25 to 30 percent lower for black men than non-black men, the study found.

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