Attitudes about racism, medical mistrust, and satisfaction with care amongAfrican American and white cardiac patients

The authors examine determinants of satisfaction with medical care among 1, 784 (782 African American and 1,003 white) cardiac patients. Patient satisf action was modeled as a function of predisposing factors (gender, age, medi cal mistrust, and perception of racism) and enabling factors (medical insur ance). African Americans reported less satisfaction with care. Although bot h black and white patients tended not to endorse the existence of racism in the medical care system, African American patients were more likely to per ceive racism. African American patients were significantly more likely to r eport mistrust. Multivariate analysis found that the perception of racism a nd mistrust of the medical care system led to less satisfaction with care. When perceived racism and medical mistrust were controlled, race was no lon ger a significant predictor of satisfaction.