*5.4. Implicit Racial/Ethnic Bias among Health Care Professionals and Its Influence on Health Care Outcomes: A Systematic Review*

Hall et al. (2015) conducted a systematic review of fifteen cross-sectional studies examining implicit bias using the Implicit Association Test [29]. They found low to moderate levels of implicit racial bias among health care professionals against racialized minorities compared with white people across all but one study. They also found that implicit bias was significantly related to four categories/themes: patient–provider interactions, treatment decisions, treatment adherence, and patient health outcomes. The most significant of these relationships was implicit bias and patient–provider interactions, with black patients perceiving poorer treatment in terms of patient centered care. Another significant relationship was and implicit bias and health outcomes, particularly psychosocial health outcomes such as social integration, depression, and life satisfaction [29].
