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Racial Disparities in Type of Heart Failure and Hospitalization

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Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of hospitalization and readmissions. Our study aimed to examine racial disparities in heart failure patients including onset, mortality, length of stay (LOS), direct costs, and readmission rates. This is a secondary data analysis. We analyzed the risk-adjusted inpatient data of all patients admitted with HF to one health academic center. We compared five health outcomes among three racial groups (white, black, and Hispanic). There were 1006 adult patients making 1605 visits from 10/01/2011 to 09/30/2015. Most black patients were admitted in younger age than other racial groups which indicates the needs for more public health preventions. With risk adjustments, the racial differences in LOS and readmission rates remain. We stratified health outcomes by race/ethnic and type of HF. The findings suggest that further studies to uncover underlying causes of these disparities are necessary. Using risk-adjusted hospitalization data allows for comparisons of quality of care across three racial groups. The study suggests that more prevention and protection services are needed for African American patients with heart failure.

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Acknowledgements

The researchers would like to express the deepest gratitude to the following departments that without their help, this project would not be possible: (1) University of Texas Medical Brach Office of the President-Waiver Operations, (2) Clinical Data Management, and (3) Office of Health Policy and Legislative Affairs.

Funding

The study received financial funding from Texas Medicaid 1115 Waiver (#094092602.1.9).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of Health Policy and Legislative Affairs, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX, 77555-0920, USA

    Wei-Chen Lee, Hani Serag, Kenneth D. Smith & Ben G. Raimer

  2. Department of Health Policy and Management, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX, USA

    Robert L. Ohsfeldt

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

    Karl Eschbach

  4. Department of Internal Medicine-Cardiology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

    Wissam Khalife & Mohamed Morsy

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  1. Wei-Chen Lee
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  2. Hani Serag
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Correspondence to Wei-Chen Lee.

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No conflict of interest or others exists.

Ethical Approval

The study has acquired the approval of Institutional Review Board (#16-0128) at University of Texas Medical Branch and has complied with all requirements for a secondary data analysis to protect privacy of health information.

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Lee, WC., Serag, H., Ohsfeldt, R.L. et al. Racial Disparities in Type of Heart Failure and Hospitalization. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 98–104 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0727-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0727-4

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