Although the culture and history of racial bias is somewhat different in Italy than in the U.S., Avenanti suspects the findings would be similar if the same experiment were conducted with Americans.
Empathy is more complex in the real world than in a laboratory. Even so, the study findings suggest that racial differences and prejudice could play a role in some doctor-patient interactions, especially in the treatment of pain or chronic pain.
“A doctor with high racial bias may understand the pain of other-race patients in a more detached or disembodied manner and, in principle, this may contribute to the causes of racial disparities in healthcare,” Avenanti says.
Previous research has shown that doctors tend to empathize more with a patient’s pain—and provide higher-quality care—if they have a history of pain themselves, or if someone close to them has experienced chronic, debilitating pain, Dr. Green says.
“Now we are understanding that if you see someone as being more like you, you can empathize with their pain better,” she says. “Race, age, gender, and class probably play a role in how we assess and treat patients with pain.”
So does that mean that, say, an African American with low back pain should seek out only doctors who are African American?
Not necessarily. Dr. Green says it’s more important to find a doctor who actively listens to you and asks questions.
“If you feel you are not heard, or that your pain complaints are not being taken seriously, you can and should see another doctor,” she says.
