Patient-health care professional gender or race/ethnicity concordance and its association with weight-related advice in the United States

Abstract

ObjectiveExamine association between adult patients’ and health care providers’ (HCPs) gender or race/ethnicity concordance and patients’ reported receiving weight-related advice from HCP’s in USA. MethodsUsing Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) 2004–2007 data, studied prevalence of weight-related advice (on exercise and diet) given to patients and its association with patients/HCPs concordance in gender (n=9,686) and race/ethnicity (n=8,825). ResultsOverall, 46% of patients received HCP advice on diet and 49% on exercise. Overweight females seeing female HCPs were more likely to receive exercise advice than those seeing male HCPs (OR=1.44 [95% CI: 1.10–1.89]). Race/ethnicity concordance was associated with lower odds of advice-receiving in certain populations (OR=0.80 [0.67–0.97] for exercise and OR=0.42 [0.19–0.91] for diet among white patients, OR=0.47 [0.23–0.98] for exercise among Hispanic overweight patients). ConclusionsPatient/HCP gender or race/ethnicity concordance was not positively associated with HCPs providing weight-related advice. Patients with female HCPs or with racial/ethnic discordant HCPs (especially black or Asian HCPs) were more likely to receive advice. Practice implicationsHealth care providers need be empowered, particularly white and male HCPs, to improve delivery of weight-related advice. It may reflect better of receiving weight-related advice based on patients’ recall.