title: Impact of patient race on receiving head CT during blunt head injury evaluation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prior evidence suggests that physicians may alter process of care based on race/ethnicity. The objective of this study was to determine whether race/ethnicity predicts whether a patient receives computed tomography of the head (head CT) during evaluation of blunt head injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a nonconcurrent cohort study set in an emergency department of a Level 1 trauma center in a university medical center. Consecutive patients presenting with blunt head injury from January 2000 to December 2000 were enrolled. The main outcome measure was whether or not a patient received head CT during evaluation of blunt head injury.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The unadjusted probability of receiving head CT was similar among minority (33.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 30.0% to 38.1%) and non-Hispanic white patients (36.4%; 95% CI = 33.5% to 39.3%). After adjusting for important clinical and socioeconomic predictors, minority patients had a probability of receiving head CT 0.84 times as high as that of non-Hispanic whites, but this result was not statistically significant (95% CI = 0.67 to 1.09).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Minority and non-Hispanic white patients may not have significantly different rates of receiving head CT during evaluation of blunt head injury. A multicenter prospective study is necessary to confirm these preliminary findings.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Emergency Medicine Center, USA. stephen.wall@nbhn.net
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: Evelyn S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Michael E R
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Habicht
authors.forename: Haneefa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wawda
authors.forename: Guy L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Merchant
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ettner
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Mower
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000208:ethnology*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D015141:Los Angeles / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D012306:Risk; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors