Background: Healthcare consumers have their own perspectives and expectations of what should occur during an encounter of care; these unmet expectations create healthcare disparities. However, there is limited data regarding healthcare experiences among racial and aging groups.
Objectives: To compare the physical and emotional responses of healthcare experiences among racial/ethnic and aged cohorts in the United States.
Methods: Applying a descriptive-correlational design, secondary data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System related to healthcare experiences among racial groups (White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian) and aged cohorts (18-39, 40-54, and 55- 69 years) were assessed.
Results: In the sample, there were 78.3% Whites, 7.9% Blacks, 12.4% Hispanics and 1.4% Asians; 42.9% were 55-69, 30.1% were 40-54, and 27% were 18-39 years. Blacks reported the greatest disparity with 8.5% reporting being treated worse than other races, experienced physical (8.5%) or emotional (16.2%) symptoms due to race during their healthcare encounters. For Hispanics, 4.9% reported being treated worse; 6.4% experienced physical and 8.8% experienced emotional symptoms due to race. For Asians, ratings for the three categories were 3.2%, 6.2%, and 9.8% respectively. White respondents reported the least disparity; the ratings for their three categories were 2.0%, 1.4%, and 2.8% respectively (analysis related to race, p\u3c0.001). The age group representing the largest disparity was 40-54 for all categories; while 55-69 ranked highest for best healthcare experiences.
Conclusion: Prevailing disparities among all racial and age groups exist; minorities and middleaged Americans are at greater risk for not receiving optimal healthcare treatment due to industry biases and perception of treatment
