RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Data on race-and-ethnicity that are needed to measure health equity are often limited or missing. The importance of first name and sex in predicting race-and-ethnicity is not well understood. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the contribution of first-name information to the accuracy of basic and more complex racial-and-ethnic imputations that incorporate surname information. RESEARCH DESIGN: We imputed race-and-ethnicity in a sample of Medicare beneficiaries under 2 scenarios: (1) with only sparse predictors (name, address, sex) and (2) with a rich set (adding limited administrative race-and-ethnicity, demographics, and insurance). SUBJECTS: A total of 284,627 Medicare beneficiaries who completed the 2014 Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey and reported race-and-ethnicity were included. RESULTS: Hispanic, non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander, and non-Hispanic White racial-and-ethnic imputations are more accurate for males than females under both sparse-predictor and rich-predictor scenarios; adding first-name information increases accuracy more for females than males. In contrast, imputations of non-Hispanic Black race-and-ethnicity are similarly accurate for females and males, and first names increase accuracy equally for each sex in both sparse-predictor and rich-predictor scenarios. For all 4 racial-and-ethnic groups, incorporating first-name information improves prediction accuracy more under the sparse-predictor scenario than under the rich-predictor scenario. CONCLUSION: First-name information contributes more to the accuracy of racial-and-ethnic imputations in a sparse-predictor scenario than in a rich-predictor scenario and generally narrows sex gaps in accuracy of imputations.
Assuntos
Etnicidade , Medicare , Idoso , População Negra , Feminino , Hispânico ou Latino , Humanos , Masculino , Inquéritos e Questionários , Estados UnidosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Hispanic older adults face substantial health disparities compared with non-Hispanic-White (hereafter "White") older adults. To the extent that these disparities stem from cultural and language barriers faced by Hispanic people, they may be compounded by residence in rural areas. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate possible interactions between Hispanic ethnicity and rural residence in predicting the health care experiences of older adults in the United States, and whether disparities in care for rural Hispanic older adults differ in Medicare Advantage versus Medicare Fee-for-Service. SUBJECTS: Medicare beneficiaries age 65 years and older who responded to the 2017-2018 nationally representative Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys. METHODS: We fit a series of linear, case-mix-adjusted models predicting Medicare CAHPS measures of patient experience (rescaled to a 0-100 scale) from ethnicity, place of residence, and Medicare coverage type. RESULTS: In all residential areas, Hispanic beneficiaries reported worse experiences with getting needed care (-3 points), getting care quickly (-4 points), and care coordination (-1 point) than White beneficiaries (all P's<0.001). In rural areas only, Hispanic beneficiaries reported significantly worse experiences than White beneficiaries on doctor communication and customer services (-3 and -9 points, respectively, P<0.05). Tests of a 3-way interaction between ethnicity, rural residence, and coverage type were nonsignificant. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to improve access to care and care coordination for Hispanic beneficiaries overall and doctor-patient communication and customer service for rural Hispanic beneficiaries. Strategies for addressing deficits faced by rural Hispanics may involve cultural competency training and provision of language-appropriate services for beneficiaries (perhaps as telehealth services).
Assuntos
Hispânico ou Latino/estatística & dados numéricos , Medicare/estatística & dados numéricos , Qualidade da Assistência à Saúde/normas , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Feminino , Geriatria/métodos , Geriatria/normas , Geriatria/estatística & dados numéricos , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/normas , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Masculino , Satisfação do Paciente , Qualidade da Assistência à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , População Rural/estatística & dados numéricos , Estados Unidos , População Urbana/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Little is known about the health care experiences of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIANs) due to limited data. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the health care experiences of AIAN Medicare beneficiaries relative to non-Hispanic Whites using national survey data pooled over 5 years. SUBJECTS: A total of 1,193,248 beneficiaries who responded to the nationally representative 2012-2016 Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys. METHODS: Linear regression models predicted CAHPS measures from race and ethnicity. Scores on the CAHPS measures were linearly transformed to a 0-100 range and case-mix adjusted. Three AIAN groups were compared with non-Hispanic Whites: single-race AIANs (n=2491; 0.4% of the total sample), multiple-race AIANs (n=15,502; 1.3%), and Hispanic AIANs (n=2264; 0.2%). RESULTS: Among AIAN groups, single-race AIANs were most likely to live in rural areas and areas served by the Indian Health Service; Hispanic AIANs were most likely to be Spanish-language-preferring (P's<0.05). Compared with non-Hispanic Whites, single-race AIANs reported worse experiences with getting needed care (adjusted disparity of -5 points; a "large" difference), getting care quickly (-4 points; a "medium" difference), doctor communication (-2 points; a "small" difference), care coordination (-2 points), and customer service (-7 points; P<0.001 for all comparisons). Disparities were similar for Hispanic AIANs but more limited for multiple-race AIANs. CONCLUSIONS: Quality improvement efforts are needed to reduce disparities faced by older AIANs. These findings may assist in developing targeted efforts to address cultural, communication, and health system factors presumed to underlie disparities in health care access and customer service.
Assuntos
/estatística & dados numéricos , Disparidades em Assistência à Saúde/etnologia , Indígenas Norte-Americanos/estatística & dados numéricos , Medicare/estatística & dados numéricos , Satisfação do Paciente/estatística & dados numéricos , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Comunicação , Continuidade da Assistência ao Paciente/organização & administração , Feminino , Pesquisas sobre Atenção à Saúde , Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Nível de Saúde , Humanos , Masculino , Qualidade da Assistência à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Características de Residência/estatística & dados numéricos , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Fatores de Tempo , Estados Unidos , United States Indian Health Service/estatística & dados numéricos , População Branca/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Disparities in clinical process-of-care and patient experiences are well documented for Medicare beneficiaries with ≥1 social risk factors. If such patients are less willing to express disagreement with their doctors or change doctors when dissatisfied, these behaviors may play a role in observed disparities. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between social risk factors and self-reported likelihood of disagreeing with or changing doctors if dissatisfied among the Medicare fee-for-service population. SUBJECTS: Fee-for-service beneficiaries (N=96,317) who responded to the 2014 Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. Subgroups were defined based on age, education, income, and race/ethnicity. METHODS: Respondents reported how likely they would be to express disagreement with their doctors and change doctors if dissatisfied (1=very unlikely to 4=very likely; rescaled to 0-100 points). We fit mixed-effect linear regression models predicting these outcomes from social risk factors, controlling for health status and geographic location. RESULTS: Beneficiaries who were older, less educated, and had lower incomes were least inclined to express disagreement or change doctors (P<0.001). Compared with non-Hispanic whites, Asian/Pacific Islander (-9.5) and Hispanic (-3.6) beneficiaries said they would be less likely, and black (+2.8) beneficiaries more likely, to express disagreement. Asian/Pacific Islander (-8.7), Hispanic (-5.9), and American Indian/Alaska Native (-3.8) beneficiaries were less inclined than non-Hispanic whites to change doctors (P<0.01). DISCUSSION: Reduction in health care disparities may be achieved if doctors and advocates encourage vulnerable patients to express their concerns and perspectives and if communities and caregivers provide support for changing providers when care is poor.