ASA: Racial Differences Seen in Treatment of Common Poststroke Sequelae at 14 days

Black patients were significantly less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to receive treatment for arousal, spasticity, and mood at 14 days.

Considerable racial differences are seen in treating common poststroke sequelae, according to a study presented at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference, held from Feb. 8 to 10 in Dallas.

Kent P. Simmonds, D.O., Ph.D., from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues used electronic medical record data from 65 large healthcare organizations to identify a cohort of non-Hispanic White (NHW), Black, and Hispanic hospitalized acute stroke patients.

The final cohort included 428,155 patients, including 309,029 NHW; 82,564 Black; and 28,375 Hispanic patients. The NHW-Black comparison included 80,564 propensity-matched pairs, and the NHW-Hispanic comparison included 28,375 propensity-matched pairs. Outcomes included medication use for treatment of arousal, spasticity, mood, sleep, bladder incontinence, and seizure, measured at 14, 90, and 365 days.

The researchers found that Black patients were significantly less likely to receive treatment for every condition at nearly every time point compared with NHW patients. The differences were largest for treating arousal, spasticity, and mood at 14 days (relative risk, 0.70, 0.73, and 0.83, respectively). For NHW-Hispanic comparisons, differences were similar with slightly smaller magnitudes.

“Stroke may have a devastating impact on an individual’s quality of life, and I think we owe it to our patients to do what we can to improve their level of function and quality of life after a stroke,” Simmonds said a statement.

One author disclosed ties to the medical device industry.

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