IntroductionEvidence suggests the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic highlighted well-known healthcare disparities. This study investigated racial disparities in patients with COVID-19-related hospitalizations utilizing the US (United States) National Inpatient Sample (NIS).
MethodologyThis was a retrospective study conducted utilizing the NIS 2020 database. The NIS was searched for hospitalization of adult patients with COVID-19 infection as a principal diagnosis using ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision) codes. We divided the NIS into four major racial/ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic, and others. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality, and the secondary outcomes were the mean length of stay, mean total hospital charges, development of sepsis, septic shock, use of vasopressors, acute respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute kidney failure, acute myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, cerebrovascular accident, and need for mechanical ventilation.
ResultsCompared to White patients, Hispanic patients had higher adjusted inpatient mortality odds (aOR [adjusted odds ratio]: 1.25, 95% CI 1.19-1.33, p<0.001); however, Black patients had similar adjusted mortality odds (aOR: 0.96, 95% CI 0.91-1.01, p=0.212). Black patients and Hispanic patients had a higher mean length of