Black and Hispanic children face higher risks of safety events during hospital stays compared to white children, a new study published in Pediatrics reveals. The research, led by Dr. Kavita Parikh from Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., analyzed data from the 2019 Kids’ Inpatient Database.
The study examined several pediatric safety indicators, including neonatal bloodstream infections, postoperative complications, and accidental injuries. Results showed that Black and Hispanic patients had significantly greater odds of experiencing safety events in five out of seven categories compared to white patients.
The most striking disparities were observed in postoperative sepsis for Black children and postoperative respiratory failure for Hispanic children. Black patients were 1.55 times more likely to experience postoperative sepsis, while Hispanic patients were 1.34 times more likely to suffer from postoperative respiratory failure compared to their white counterparts.
Insurance coverage also played a role in safety outcomes. Medicaid-covered patients had significantly higher odds of experiencing safety events in four out of seven categories compared to privately insured patients. The largest disparity was seen in postoperative sepsis, with Medicaid patients 1.45 times more likely to be affected.
Notably, these racial and ethnic disparities persisted even among privately insured children, suggesting that insurance status alone does not explain the differences in safety outcomes.
Dr. Parikh and her colleagues emphasized that this large-scale analysis provides crucial data for prioritizing future efforts to understand and address these disparities in pediatric hospital care.
The study’s findings underscore the urgent need for healthcare systems to address racial, ethnic, and insurance-based inequities to ensure safer hospital experiences for all children.
See “Racial, ethnic disparities seen for safety events in hospitalized children” (February 13, 2024)
