The odds of death for patients receiving mechanical ventilation for pneumonia or sepsis increase along with the diversity of hospitals' patient populations, suggesting more systemic factors such as lack of resources and income levels may be to blame, according to research published at the ATS 2024 International Conference. The study's results are in line with the findings of previous studies that looked at the association between hospital racial diversity and mortality after heart attack, and rates of improvement in ICU mortality, according to the authors. Taken together, this data highlights the importance of a careful examination of factors that could be contributing to these adverse outcomes and suggests a need for adjusting resource allocation both to reduce inequity and improve patient outcomes.
" Gwenyth Day, MD, corresponding author, third-year fellow, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus Health disparities research has focused mostly on the role of singular patient-level factors, such as race or income. Less attention has been paid to the hospital systems in which patients experience disparities. Dr.
Day and colleagues previously showed that, for patients receiving mechanical ventilation for pneumonia or sepsis, Black women have highest risk-adjusted death rates while white men have the lowest risk-adjusted mortality rates. To address this issue on a systemic basis, the team designed a study that woul.