Advanced Emphysema in African-American and White Patients

Objectives: Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States. One of the primary goals of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association is to increase the number of acute stroke patients arriving at emergency departments (EDs) within 1-hour of symptom onset. Earlier treatment with thrombolysis in patients with acute ischemic stroke translates into improved patient outcomes. The objective of this abstract is to examine the association between the use of emergency medical services (EMS) and symptom onset-to-arrival time in patients with ischemic stroke. Methods: A retrospective review of ischemic stroke patients (n = 8873) from 25 Michigan hospitals from January 2012-December 2014 using Get With the Guidelines databases was conducted. Symptom onset-to-ED arrival time and arrival mode were examined. Results: It was found that 17.4% of ischemic stroke patients arrived at the hospitals within 1-hour of symptom onset. EMS transported 69.1% of patients who arrived within 1-hour of symptom onset. During this 1-hour period African American patients (22%) were less likely to use EMS transportation as compared to White patients (72%). The majority of patients, 41.8%, arrived after 6-hours of symptom onset. EMS transported only 40% of patients who arrived after 6-hours of symptom onset. As before, during this 6-hour period African American patients (20%) were also less likely to use EMS transportation as compared to White patients (75%). Symptom onset-to-ED arrival time was shorter for those patients who used EMS. The median pre-hospital delay time was 2.6 hours for those who used EMS versus 6.2 hours for those who did not use EMS. Conclusions: The use of EMS is associated with a decreased pre-hospital delay, early treatment with thrombolysis and improved patient outcomes in ischemic stroke patients. Community interventions should focus on creating awareness especially in minority populations about stroke as a neurological emergency and encourage EMS use amongst stroke patients.

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Effect of Race and Ethnicity on In-Hospital Mortality in Patients with COVID-2019

Ethnicity & Disease ◽

10.18865/ed.31.3.389 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 389-398

Author(s):

Adnan I. Qureshi ◽

William I. Baskett ◽

Wei Huang ◽

Daniel Shyu ◽

Danny Myers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

African American ◽

Hospital Mortality ◽

Race And Ethnicity ◽

Pacific Islander ◽

Sociodemographic Factors ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Do Not Resuscitate ◽

Short Term ◽

White Patients

Objective: To identify differences in short-term outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) according to various racial/ethnic groups.Design: Analysis of Cerner de-identified COVID-19 dataset.Setting: A total of 62 health care facilities.Participants: The cohort included 49,277 adult COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized from December 1, 2019 to November 13, 2020.Methods: We compared patients’ age, gender, individual components of Charlson and Elixhauser comorbidities, medical complications, use of do-not-resuscitate, use of palliative care, and socioeconomic status between various racial and/or ethnic groups. We further compared the rates of in-hospital mortality and non-routine discharges between various racial and/or ethnic groups.Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome of interest was in-hospital mortality. The secondary outcome was non-routine discharge (discharge to destinations other than home, such as short-term hospitals or other facilities including intermediate care and skilled nursing homes).Results: Compared with White patients, in-hospital mortality was significantly higher among African American (OR 1.5; 95%CI:1.3-1.6, P<.001), Hispanic (OR1.4; 95%CI:1.3-1.6, P<.001), and Asian or Pacific Islander (OR 1.5; 95%CI: 1.1-1.9, P=.002) patients after adjustment for age and gender, Elixhauser comorbidities, do-not-resuscitate status, palliative care use, and socioeconomic status.Conclusions: Our study found that, among hospitalized patients with COVID-2019, African American, Hispanic, and Asian or Pacific Islander patients had increased mortality compared with White patients after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, comorbidities, and do-not-resuscitate/palliative care status. Our findings add additional perspective to other recent studies. Ethn Dis. 2021;31(3):389-398; doi:10.18865/ed.31.3.389

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