They found blacks with back injuries had less money spent on their medical care, were given fewer excused days off from work, and had smaller financial settlements than whites.

Medical care expenditures for blacks with work-related back injuries were about one-third less than those spent on whites.

Researchers also found patients who were less educated and earned less money received cheaper medical care and smaller financial settlements for their injuries than those who were more educated and had higher incomes.

Researchers say negative stereotypes may represent the most likely reason for the differences in treatment and settlements.

“The first stage of solving a problem is identifying it. We’re at that problem identification stage. Of course we now need more detailed information so that we can move to better understand the disparity,” concludes Raymond C. Tait, Ph.D., from Saint Louis University School of Medicine.