This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Study dispels notion of ethnic disparities in treatment of trauma patients
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The initial evaluation and management of injured patients from minority ethnic groups nationwide appears to be similar to that of non-Hispanic white patients, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Surgery.
Shahid Shafi, MD, MPH, and Larry M. Gentilello, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, analyzed data obtained from 8,563 trauma patients in a 2003 national survey to determine if there were differences in the initial assessment and management of injuries based on patient ethnicity. Patients were divided into three groups: non-Hispanic white (n=6,106), African-American (n=1,406) and Hispanic (n=1,051). Researchers noted patients’ age, sex, insurance status, injury and measures of injury severity, according to a press release.
Minority patients were more likely to be younger, less likely to be insured and more likely to have been treated at a public hospital, but were similar in sex, method of injury and injury severity when compared with non-Hispanic white patients, according to the press release.
There were also no significant differences between non-Hispanic white patients and African-American and Hispanic patients in intensity of emergency department assessment, monitoring, treatment or release from the emergency department. Likewise, there were no considerable differences by region, hospital ownership or patient insurance status, according to the press release.
“The obvious implication of the lack of ethnic disparities in emergency department management is that other causes of ethnic disparities in functional outcomes of trauma patients should be sought,” the authors wrote. “These may include the quality of inpatient care, use of high-cost medications and procedures, access to acute and long-term rehabilitation services and follow-up after discharge from acute care hospitalization. It is also entirely possible that the disparities in outcomes have little to do with the quality of medical care received.”
Other factors, such as the socioeconomic status, educational level, employment and insurance status, rural vs. urban location, language barriers and cultural and religious beliefs and practices, need to be studied further to understand differences between various ethnic groups, the authors suggested.
Reference:
- Shafi S, Gentilello LM. Ethnic disparities in initial management of trauma patients in a nationwide sample of emergency department visits. Arch Surg. 2008;143[11]:1057-1061.