Minorities have worse trauma outcomes

A study published in the Archives of Surgery found that, adjusted for injury severity, minorities and uninsured patients have worse trauma care outcomes. African Americans had a 17 percent increased chance of death; Hispanics, a 47 percent chance. The disparity was even greater in patients with health insurance. "This study refutes the notion that racial disparities in trauma care are merely a reflection of insurance status," said the study's lead author, Dr. Adil H. Haider. "Both insurance and race are independent predictors of mortality after trauma. And of the two, insurance is the more important predictor." Article [1]