Researchers compared patients of the same age, gender and income level and made adjustments for obesity levels, but sill found that white patients fared better.

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal has revealed that black diabetics have worse health outcomes than whites even if they are treated by the same doctor.

The ground breaking study, led by Thomas Sequist from Havard Vanguard Medical Associates, analysed a group of patients in Massachusetts, USA, with access to the same health facilities, which included 90 health physicians across 14 medical centres. The study challenges the widely held belief that black diabetics fare worse than whites as they are poorer and have less access to quality healthcare facilities.

Researchers compared patients of the same age, gender and income level and made adjustments for obesity levels, but sill found that white patients fared better. The results of the study might lead observers to conclude that the only possible explanation for the disparity is discrimination.

However, the lead researcher Sequist, does not believe that racial discrimination is the cause. In fact, Sequist believes that the answers lies in the health physicians treating all diabetic patients the same, implementing standard treatment plans for everyone, regardless of their ethnicity. According to the lead researchers, individual patients have different needs and the solution to improving outcomes for black diabetics lies in tailoring treatment to the specific needs of patients.

Ironically, in a follow-up study with the same group of physicians, when questioned, whilst they acknowledged the existence of racial disparities in diabetic outcomes, did not believe that any such disparities existed within their own practices. Recommendations include cultural competency training, which would help health physicians to identify when patients have different health conditions or when certain constraints affect the ability of black patients to follow diet and exercise guidelines.

Another recommendation made by Sequist is performance reports broken down by race, to raise awareness of disparities among health physicians.