How Doctors’ Political Beliefs Can Affect Their Care For Patients
- 8 years ago
A physician’s political views can influence some of the care that is provided, finds new research from Yale University.
A physician’s political views can influence some of the care that is provided, finds new research from Yale University.
A news release explains that practitioners affiliated with different parties are most likely to diverge on advice related to “...politicized health issues like marijuana use, gun safety, and abortion.”
For the research, the team “...obtained the political party affiliations of more than 20,000 primary care physicians in 29 states through a database of public voter registration records.”
A sample of doctors from both major parties was presented with nine different patient scenarios, some that were neutral and others involving typically partisan issues.
The physicians were then asked to comment on each situation in terms of degree of seriousness and potential treatment options.
The researchers found that Republican physicians were more reserved on the scenarios relating to marijuana use and abortion while their Democratic counterparts showed extra concern about the one on firearms.
As such, the team recommends that doctors become aware of how their political beliefs could potentially be influencing the treatment options they suggest to patients.
A physician’s political views can influence some of the care that is provided, finds new research from Yale University.
A news release explains that practitioners affiliated with different parties are most likely to diverge on advice related to “...politicized health issues like marijuana use, gun safety, and abortion.”
For the research, the team “...obtained the political party affiliations of more than 20,000 primary care physicians in 29 states through a database of public voter registration records.”
A sample of doctors from both major parties was presented with nine different patient scenarios, some that were neutral and others involving typically partisan issues.
The physicians were then asked to comment on each situation in terms of degree of seriousness and potential treatment options.
The researchers found that Republican physicians were more reserved on the scenarios relating to marijuana use and abortion while their Democratic counterparts showed extra concern about the one on firearms.
As such, the team recommends that doctors become aware of how their political beliefs could potentially be influencing the treatment options they suggest to patients.