Health professionals implicit bias of patients with low socioeconomic status (SES) and its effects on clinical decision-making: a scoping review

Objectives Research indicates that people with lower socioeconomic status (SES) receive inferior healthcare and experience poorer health outcomes compared with those with higher SES, in part due to health professional (HP) bias. We conducted a scoping review of the impact of HP bias about SES on clinical decision-making and its effect on the care of adults with lower SES.Design JBI scoping review methods were used to perform a systematic comprehensive search for literature. The scoping review protocol has been published in BMJ Open.Data sources Medline, Embase, ASSIA, Scopus and CINAHL were searched, from the first available start date of the individual database to March 2023. Two independent reviewers filtered and screened papers.Eligibility criteria Studies of all designs were included in this review to provide a comprehensive map of the existing evidence of the impact of HP bias of SES on clinical decision-making and its effect on the care for people with lower SES.Data extraction and synthesis Data were gathered using an adapted JBI data extraction tool for systematic scoping reviews.Results Sixty-seven papers were included from 1975 to 2023. 35 (73%) of the included primary research studies reported an association between HP SES bias and decision-making. Thirteen (27%) of the included primary research studies did not find an association between HP SES bias and decision-making. Stereotyping and bias can adversely affect decision-making when the HP is fatigued or has a high cognitive load. There is evidence of intersectionality which can have a powerful cumulative effect on HP assessment and subsequent decision-making. HP implicit bias may be mitigated through the assertiveness of the patient with low SES.Conclusion HP decision-making is at times influenced by non-medical factors for people of low SES, and assumptions are made based on implicit bias and stereotyping, which compound or exacerbate health inequalities. Research that focuses on decision-making when the HP has a high cognitive load, would help the health community to better understand this potential influence.