The influence of patients’ immigration background and residence permit status on treatment decisions in health care. Results of a factorial survey among general practitioners in Switzerland

This study examines the influence of patients’ immigration background and residence permit status on physicians’ willingness to treat patients in due time. A factorial survey was conducted among 352 general practitioners with a background in internal medicine in a German-speaking region in Switzerla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 2016-07, Vol.161, p.64-73
Main Authors: Drewniak, Daniel, Krones, Tanja, Sauer, Carsten, Wild, Verina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Attitude of Health Personnel
Binomial Distribution
Choice Behavior
Communication Barriers
Decisions
Discrimination
Economic conditions
Emigrants and Immigrants
Ethnicity
Factorial survey
Family physicians
Female
General Practitioners - psychology
Health
Health care disparities
Health problems
Health services
Healthcare Disparities - ethnology
Humans
Immigration
Logistic Models
Male
Medical decision making
Medicine
Middle Aged
Migration
Multivariate Analysis
Patients
Physicians
Physicians’ attitudes
Pressure
Residence
Residence permit status
Social rationing
Socioeconomic Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Switzerland
Switzerland - ethnology
Teaching
Time Factors
Training
Triage - methods
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Summary:This study examines the influence of patients’ immigration background and residence permit status on physicians’ willingness to treat patients in due time. A factorial survey was conducted among 352 general practitioners with a background in internal medicine in a German-speaking region in Switzerland. Participants expressed their self-rating (SR) as well as the expected colleague-rating (CR) to provide immediate treatment to 12 fictive vignette patients. The effects of the vignette variables were analysed using random-effects models. The results show that SR as well as CR was not only influenced by the medical condition or the physicians’ time pressure, but also by social factors such as the ethnicity and migration history, the residence permit status, and the economic condition of the patients. Our findings can be useful for the development of adequate, practically relevant teaching and training materials with the ultimate aim to reduce unjustified discrimination or social rationing in health care. •A factorial survey is used to examine physicians’ willingness to provide treatment.•Focus of the study is equitable health care for minorities.•Treatment is influenced by patients’ origin and the residence permit status.•Treatment is influenced by the patients’ economic condition.•Findings can be used for the development of teaching and training materials.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.05.039