Study: Doctors More Likely to Use Negative Language When Referring to Latinos

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Mistreatment based on background and unfair treatment are among Latinos’ biggest challenges to healthcare.  

Driven by years of mistreatment, Latinos and other vulnerable groups face challenges in care and mistrust of the healthcare system. 

This prompts reluctance to receive life-saving care or health screenings. Putting off care can result in a delayed diagnosis and prolonged and more expensive medical treatment for chronic diseases, such as cancer, leading to worse health outcomes.  

But how widespread is mistreatment in healthcare? 

Doctors are more likely to use negative language when referencing Black and Latino patients in medical records, according to a new study in JMIR Medical Informatics.  

Let’s unpack the study and the meaning behind the results.  

Language Perceptions Study Methodology 

In “Examining Linguistic Differences in Electronic Health Records for Diverse Patients With Diabetes: Natural Language Processing Analysis,” researchers studied the medical records of Black, Latino, and white patients seen by 281 physicians across a large metropolitan area to see if they displayed language perceptions toward their patients. 

Language perceptions is a tendency to favor certain groups via use of words that unintentionally belittle or offend. 

The research team “wanted to know whether (they) could detect such perceptions in the language providers use in health records,” said Eden King, a professor of psychological sciences at Rice University and one of the study’s lead authors. 

“Previous studies have shown that care providers’ [perceptions] may be part of the reason for [differences] in health,” King said in an accompanying news release.  

One such study cited by researchers was the National Healthcare Disparities Report. 

Released in 2018, the report discovered that Black and Latino patients receive inferior care compared to white patients.  

The report examined care based on several quality measures, including responses such as, “physicians sometimes or never showed respect for what they had to say” and “physicians sometimes or never spent enough time with them.”  

Black patients reported receiving inferior care on 40% of those quality measures while Latinos reported 35% worse care. 

Language Perceptions Study Findings 

Building on that knowledge, researchers took a deeper dive into the details and indicators of negative perceptions based on background in medical care.

Doctor’s summaries for Black and Latino patients tended to contain more negative adjectives, such as “unkind,” “negative,” or “stupid,” when describing their interactions. 

Black and Latino patients were also subject to more fear and disgust words, such as “intimidate,” “attack,” “cringe,” and “criticize.”  

Medical notes for Latino patients contained fewer positive adjectives, such as “supportive,” “kind,” “great,” and “nice,” trust verbs, such as “affirm,” “advise,” “confide,” and “cooperating,” and joy words, such as “admiration,” “elated,” “glad,” and “pleased,” when compared to those of white patients.  

Study findings point to clear language differences used for patients from vulnerable populations, indicating the presence of background perceptions in medicine.   

“Understanding that providers’ language may indicate [negative perceptions] points to an opportunity to interrupt it,” King said in the news release. “If we can perfect algorithms to detect such [negative perceptions], we can raise awareness in the moment of the patient-provider conversation. That awareness may be enough to encourage more [improved] health care.” 

Putting a Stop to Negative Background Perceptions

There are many ways the healthcare system can address negative background perceptions.  

One effective way of tackling perceptions is by increasing background competency.  

Background competency entails an understanding and respect of different values, attitudes, and beliefs. It should be considered when planning, implementing, evaluating, and promoting health education, resources, and interventions.  

Creating accountability measures, holding mandatory training, and screening patients for the non-medical drivers of health can positively impact the health outcomes of patients from vulnerable and overlooked populations, such as Latinos.  

There is also a lack of Latinos in medicine.  

Latino providers come equipped with the social understanding many Latino patients need to receive fair care, and some can communicate with the patient in Spanish, eliminating language challenges.   

To increase the number of Latinos in healthcare, educational institutions can expand access to higher learning for people from vulnerable populations and create pathways to make it easier for them to enter the medical profession.