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Minorities have lower rates of TKA, higher rates of adverse events
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Results from this study indicated low rates of total knee arthroplasties in minority patients; however, they had higher rates of adverse health outcomes correlated with the procedure.
“Even after adjusting for certain patient demographics, socioeconomic status and health care system characteristics, significant racial disparities in TKR utilization and outcomes exist,” Yan Ma, PhD, associate professor in the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University said in a release. “These findings create an opportunity for health care providers to consider differences in utilization and outcomes that may result directly from their referral patterns.”
Ma and colleagues assessed data from the State Inpatient Databases from 8 years and eight racially diverse states. Variables they considered included rate of total knee arthroplasties (TKAs), use of hospitals with higher TKA volumes, in-hospital mortality and in-hospital complications. Investigators evaluated both crude and adjusted racial and/or ethnic disparities. Outcome variables such as patient characteristic and hospital-level information were evaluated with the chi-square test to the Fisher exact test.
Results showed black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and mixed-race patients compared with white patients had lower rates of TKAs. The TKA rate for black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and mixed-race patients after risk adjustment was significantly lower. Investigators noted over the year the low rates of TKAs for black, Hispanic and Native American patients became worse. Black, Native American and mixed-race patients had significantly higher mortality rates. Compared with white patients, black and mixed-race patients had higher complication rates. ‒ by Monica Jaramillo
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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