Age Influences the Effects of Provider Racial Biases on Treatment Adherence and Blood Pressure Control for African American Hypertensive Patients

Objective. The purpose of the current study was to investigate age as a moderator of the effects of perceived provider racial biases on treatment adherence and blood pressure control for African American hypertensive patients. Methods. One hundred-eighty patients were recruited from an outpatient medical clinic in the Southeastern region of the U.S. Moderated regression analyses and multinomial logistic analyses were used to test the study hypotheses. Results. Findings revealed that age significantly moderated the effects of perceived provider biases on treatment adherence, such that older patients exhibited lower scores for treatment adherence in relation to exposure to provider biases. Logistic analyses revealed that older patients exhibited significantly greater probabilities for higher systolic blood pressure in relation to perceived provider biases. Conclusions. The findings suggest that subjective appraisal of exposure to provider racial biases is associated with adverse treatment adherence and blood pressure control for older African American hypertensive patients.