Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Sep;47(9):1009-17.
doi: 10.1097/MLR.0b013e3181a80fdc.

Racial and ethnic disparities in pneumonia treatment and mortality

Leslie R M Hausmann  1 , Said A Ibrahim, Ateev Mehrotra, Wato Nsa, Dale W Bratzler, Maria K Mor, Michael J Fine
Affiliations

Racial and ethnic disparities in pneumonia treatment and mortality

Leslie R M Hausmann et al. Med Care. 2009 Sep.

Abstract

Background: The extent to which racial/ethnic disparities in pneumonia care occur within or between hospitals is unclear.

Objective: Examine within and between-hospital racial/ethnic disparities in quality indicators and mortality for patients hospitalized for pneumonia.

Research design: Retrospective cohort study.

Subjects: A total of 1,183,753 non-Hispanic white, African American, and Hispanic adults hospitalized for pneumonia between January 2005 and June 2006.

Measures: Eight pneumonia care quality indicators and in-hospital mortality.

Results: Performance rates for the 8 quality indicators ranged from 99.4% (oxygenation assessment within 24 hours) to 60.2% (influenza vaccination). Overall hospital mortality was 4.1%. African American and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations, smoking cessation counseling, and first dose of antibiotic within 4 hours than white patients at the same hospital (ORs = 0.65-0.95). Patients at hospitals with the racial composition of those attended by average African Americans and Hispanics were less likely to receive all indicators except blood culture within 24 hours than patients at hospitals with the racial composition of those attended by average whites. Hospital mortality was higher for African Americans (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.02, 1.09) and lower for Hispanics (OR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.81, 0.89) than for whites within the same hospital. Mortality for patients at hospitals with the racial composition of those attended by average African Americans (OR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.18, 1.25) or Hispanics (OR = 1.18; 95% CI = 1.14, 1.23) was higher than for patients at hospitals with the racial composition of those attended by average whites.

Conclusions: Racial/ethnic disparities in pneumonia treatment and mortality are larger and more consistent between hospitals than within hospitals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Identification of the Study Sample
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. DeFrances CJ, Lucas CA, Bule VC, Golosinskiy A. 2006 National Hospital Discharge Survey July 30 2008. 5. - PubMed
    1. Minino AM, Heron MP, Murphy SL, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Final Data for 2004 August 21 2007. Volume 55, Number 19. - PubMed
    1. Lave JR, Lin CC, Hughes-Cromick P, Fine MJ. The cost of treating patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Sem Respir Crit Care Med. 1999;20:189–198.
    1. Muennig PA, Khan K. Cost-effectiveness of vaccination versus treatment of influenza in healthy adolescents and adults. Clin Infect Dis. December 1 2001;33(11):1879–1885. - PubMed
    1. Lee PY, Matchar DB, Clements DA, Huber J, Hamilton JD, Peterson ED. Economic analysis of influenza vaccination and antiviral treatment for healthy working adults. Ann Intern Med. August 20 2002;137(4):225–231. - PubMed

Publication types