Using virtual human technology to capture dentists' decision policies about pain

Area of Science:

• Dental Medicine
• Health Disparities Research
• Human Factors in Healthcare

Background:

• Healthcare professionals' decisions are influenced by patient demographics like race, gender, and age.
• Understanding these influences is crucial for addressing healthcare disparities in pain management.
• Virtual human (VH) technology offers a novel method to study these effects in controlled settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of virtual human patients' demographic cues on dentists' pain management decisions.
• To determine if dentists' assessments of pain intensity and treatment recommendations are affected by patient race, gender, and age.

Main Methods:

• Eighty-nine dentists participated in the study.
• Participants evaluated virtual human patients with varying demographic characteristics.
• Pain intensity ratings and opioid prescription likelihood were recorded as outcome measures.

Main Results:

• Dentists reported higher pain intensity and increased willingness to prescribe opioids for female, African-American, and younger virtual patients.
• Significant two-way interactions between race and age were observed for pain assessment and treatment decisions.
• The disparity in pain assessment and treatment between Caucasian and African-American patients was more pronounced in younger individuals.

Conclusions:

• Dentists' pain management decisions are demonstrably influenced by demographic cues of virtual patients.
• These findings highlight a potential source of healthcare disparities in dental pain management.
• The study underscores the need for guidelines and improved training to mitigate bias in clinical decision-making.