A US study has found that black babies have a greater chance of survival when the doctor in charge of their care is black. Research examining 1.8 million hospital births in the state of Florida between 1992 and 2015, found that baby-doctor racial concordance significantly improves morality for black infants.

An initial study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that the 2017 infant mortality rate was 10.97, more than twice as high as that for white infants, which was 4.67. The average infant mortality rate in the US is currently 5.79 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

Overall

Whilst infant mortality has fallen overall in the past century due to developments in medical equipment and research, the black-white disparity is still more prevalent than ever.

The recent report published in August 2020, found that the race of the doctor caring for the child, also plays an important role.

“Findings suggest that when black newborns are cared for by black physicians, the mortality penalty they suffer, as compared with White infants, is halved.”

The study also found that the most significant drop in deaths occured in hospitals which deliver more black babies, suggesting institutional factors such as unconscious bias/racism may play a role.

Discoveries

Despite these discoveries, the medical workforce is still disproportionately white. Only 5% of doctors are black in the US, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. This statistic is mildly better in the UK, where 6.1% of NHS workers are black according to the NHS Workforce statistics, 2019.

Not only does this negatively affect the health of black individuals, it also manifests in the black community as scepticism towards the health care system. Subsequently, resulting in a lack of trust towards doctors and thus neglect of their own wellbeing.

Unfortunately, racial disparities in medical treatment extend beyond infant care. Another US study, inclusive over almost 1 million A&E visits, found that black children in severe pain from acute appendicitis had just one-fifth of access to opioid painkillers compared with white children.

Concerns

A later study also found further racial disparities in opioid prescription – suggesting that medical conditions dependent on a patient’s own testimony such as mental health concerns or a migraine, are treated with less legitimacy when compared to say a broken bone, which can be established evidentially.

However, another study suggests deeper ingrained stereotypes about black people and pain affect these statistics.

Since slavery, violence against enslaved black people was justified by a ludicrously inaccurate belief that they had thicker skin, and therefore a greater tolerance for pain. A 2016 Princeton University study found a third of 222 white medical students held this false belief.

Subjective

Because the perception of pain is subjective, a doctor’s ability to assess and respond accordingly and accurately is dependent on their empathetic capacity, which is also directly influenced by their existing beliefs, both unconscious or conscious.

If anything, this research demonstrates the imminent need for more diversity within the medical workforce, as well as more education upon the consequences of unconscious bias and social injustice within the medical industry.