Black Patients More Likely to “Self-Discharge” from Hospital
Black patients are more likely to check themselves out of the hospital against their doctor’s advice than white and Latino patients, according to a new study. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, examined more than 3 million discharges from hospitals in the United States and found that 1.4 percent of them were made against the advice of medical personnel. African American patients were 35 percent more likely than white patients to discharge themselves. Researchers say that a distrust of doctors and a history of negative healthcare experiences might play a role in black patients’ higher chance of leaving the hospital without their doctor’s authorization.
