Perceptions of ethnic and cultural factors in the delivery of services in the treatment of sickle cell disease.
Twenty-two parents or guardians of children with sickle cell disease seen at a university medical center were administered the Service Perception Test (SPT), a pilot designed for this study to assess how ethnocultural factors of age, race, and gender were perceived as influencing quality of health care received by patients. The medical staff at the sickle cell treatment clinic were also administered the SPT. Data were analyzed for family respondents, medical staff, and a comparison of the two groups. Results consistently show that whites were perceived as getting better service than blacks; young children as receiving better service than the elderly; and the elderly as getting better service than middle age adults. Females were perceived as receiving better service than males with an interaction of race and age. Conclusions and implications for delivering health care services to ethnically and culturally diverse patients with sickle cell disease are offered.
Department of Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville 27858.
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D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D015285:Hospital-Patient Relations; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology