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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols

Date Submitted: Sep 5, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 16, 2024 - Nov 11, 2024
Date Accepted: Feb 27, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Examining Potential Implicit Bias in Oncologist-Patient Communication (CONNECT): Protocol for an Observational 2-Site Study

Duck V, Augustin M, Morillo J, Alkon A, Thomas R, Pollak K, Smith C

Examining Potential Implicit Bias in Oncologist-Patient Communication (CONNECT): Protocol for an Observational 2-Site Study

JMIR Res Protoc 2025;14:e66086

DOI: 10.2196/66086

PMID: 40811804

PMCID: 12395106

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.

Protocol paper for CONNECT: An observational two-site study to examine potential implicit bias in oncologist-patient communication

  • Veronica Duck; 
  • Marsha Augustin; 
  • Jose Morillo; 
  • Aviel Alkon; 
  • Robert Thomas; 
  • Kathryn Pollak; 
  • Cardinale Smith

ABSTRACT

Compared to White patients, minoritized patients (characterized as Black and Hispanic) have a higher incidence of advanced solid cancers and also have higher mortality.1,2 These patients also report poor patient-centered communication and worse pain assessment and management. Although many factors contribute to these disparities, physician implicit bias might be a contributor.3 The primary goal of this study is to evaluate the role of implicit bias among oncologists and examine the impact racial/ethnic differences in objective assessments of communication with minorities with advanced cancer. To accomplish this, we are recruiting 65 oncologists and 325 patients (5 patients per oncologist) with advanced solid cancer from ambulatory cancer clinics within the diverse settings of the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City and the Duke University Health System in Durham, NC. We will audio record patient-oncologist encounters during a post-imaging visit over three encounters. In this paper, we outline methods, describe the development of the codebook used to assess primary and secondary outcomes, and discuss challenges and lessons learned throughout the study.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Duck V, Augustin M, Morillo J, Alkon A, Thomas R, Pollak K, Smith C

Examining Potential Implicit Bias in Oncologist-Patient Communication (CONNECT): Protocol for an Observational 2-Site Study

JMIR Res Protoc 2025;14:e66086

DOI: 10.2196/66086

PMID: 40811804

PMCID: 12395106

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