Racial/ethnic differences in emergency care for joint dislocation in 53 US EDs.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to investigate racial/ethnic differences in emergency care for patients with joint dislocation.


METHODS
We performed a secondary analysis of the dislocation component of the National Emergency Department Safety Study. Using a principal diagnosis of dislocation, we identified emergency department (ED) visits for joint dislocations in 53 urban EDs across 19 US states between 2003 and 2005. Quality of care was evaluated based on 9 guideline-concordant care measures.


RESULTS
Of the 1945 patients included in this analysis, 1124 (58%) were white; 561 (29%), black, and 260 (13%), Hispanic. One-third of the 53 EDs cared for 51% of minority patients. After multivariable adjustment, black patients were less likely to receive any analgesic treatment (odds ratio [OR], 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.51-0.90) or opioid treatment (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.41-0.997), waited longer to receive analgesia (mean difference in time to analgesic treatment, 32 minutes; 95% CI, 16-52 minutes), and were less likely to receive reassessments of pain (OR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.34-0.70) compared with white patients. There were no ethnic disparities in most of the care measures between Hispanic and white patients. There were no disparities in initial pain assessment, pre- and postprocedural neurovascular assessment, procedural monitoring, or success of joint reduction across the racial/ethnic groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Black patients presenting to the ED with joint dislocations received lower quality of care in some, but not all, areas compared with white patients. Future interventions should target these areas to eliminate racial disparities in dislocation care.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. cltsai@post.harvard.edu
Chu-Lin
CL
Tsai
Ashley F
AF
Sullivan
James A
JA
Gordon
Rainu
R
Kaushal
David J
DJ
Magid
David
D
Blumenthal
Carlos A
CA
Camargo
D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D004204:Joint Dislocations / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059408:Pain Management / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult; D001741:Black or African American