Black and Latinx patients have lower rates of admission to cardiology service, as do women, >75s
TUESDAY, Oct. 29, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Black and Latinx patients are less likely than white patients to be admitted to cardiology for heart failure care, according to a study published online Oct. 29 in Circulation: Heart Failure.
Lauren A. Eberly, M.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of all patients self-referred to the emergency department and admitted to cardiology or general medicine service with a principle diagnosis of heart failure. The correlations among race, admission service, and 30-day readmission and mortality were examined in 1,967 unique patients who self-identified as white, black, or Latinx (66.7, 23.6, and 9.7 percent, respectively).
The researchers found that compared with white patients, black and Latinx patients had lower rates of admission to the cardiology service (adjusted rate ratios, 0.91 and 0.83 for black and Latinx patients, respectively). There were independent associations noted for female sex and age >75 years with lower rates of admission to the cardiology service. Independent of race, admission to the cardiology service was associated with decreased readmission within 30 days.
“Ongoing institutional insistence on self-critique and recognition of the pervasiveness of structural racism and bias will increase the likelihood of success in achieving health equity at all U.S. institutions,” the authors write.
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