title: Racial and ethnic disparities in emergency department analgesic prescription.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined racial and ethnic disparities in analgesic prescription among a national sample of emergency department patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed Black, Latino, and White patients in the 1997-1999 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys to compare prescription of any analgesics and opioid analgesics by race/ethnicity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For any analgesic, no association was found between race and prescription; opioids, however, were less likely to be prescribed to Blacks than to Whites with migraines and back pain, though race was not significant for patients with long bone fracture. Differences in opioid use between Latinos and Whites with the same conditions were less and nonsignificant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physicians were less likely to prescribe opioids to Blacks; this disparity appears greatest for conditions with fewer objective findings (e.g., migraine).
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. sarver@po.cwru.edu
authors.forename: Joshua H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Tamayo-Sarver
authors.forename: Susan W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hinze
authors.forename: Rita K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Cydulka
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000600:supply & distribution; D002648:Child; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid