AHRQ: Differences in hospital stays with OR procedures by race, ethnicity

Editor's Note

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released new statistics on inpatient stays with OR procedures by patient race and ethnicity from the 2019 National Inpatient Sample.

Among the findings:

• Nonmaternal (ie, men and women of any age) hospitalizations with OR procedures in Black and White non-Hispanic patients were approximately two to three times higher that rates for Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander patients.
• Of those aged 18 to 64 years, Black patients had the highest rate of nonmaternal stays with OR procedures, and of those aged 65+ years, White patients had the highest rate.
• Among nonmaternal stays with OR procedures—Black adults aged 18-44 years had the highest rate of gastrectomy and hysterectomy; Hispanic adults aged 18+ years had the highest rate of cholecystectomy; and White adults aged 45-64 had the highest rate of arthroplasty.
• Among maternal (ie, women aged 15-49 years) stays with OR procedures—Asian/Pacific Islander women had the highest rate of perineal muscle laceration repair and anorectal repair; Black women had the highest rate of Cesarean section and removal of placenta; and Hispanic women had the highest rate of fallopian tube ligation and excision.

A variety of factors may explain differences in the occurrence of OR procedures by patient race and ethnicity, the authors say. These include patient characteristics, such as comorbidities, insurance coverage, socioeconomic status, and willingness to have an OR procedure; physician practice styles; and systemic factors, such as access to healthcare, hospital volume, and resource capacity.