Key result
Black Veterans hospitalized with heart failure who received palliative care had significantly more burdensome transitions than matched White Veterans over 6 months (27.4% vs. 21.9%; p=0.011).
Why the study?
Examining racial disparities in the treatment of heart failure patients and the effects of palliative care consultation is important to developing culturally competent clinical behaviors.
Are there racial differences in burdensome transitions between Black and White Veterans hospitalized with heart failure after palliative care consultation?
Cohort (n=1,592)
Yes
Are there racial differences in burdensome transitions between Black and White Veterans hospitalized with heart failure after palliative care consultation?
Black Veterans hospitalized with heart failure experience significantly more burdensome healthcare transitions after palliative care consultation compared to propensity-matched White Veterans, highlighting racial disparities in end-of-life care.
May reflect racial inequities in palliative care transitions; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective confirmation before guiding practice.
Background: Examining racial disparities in the treatment of heart failure (HF) patients and the effects of palliative care (PC) consultation is important to developing culturally competent clinical behaviors. Objective: To compare burdensome transitions for Black and White Veterans hospitalized with HF after PC consultation. Participants: This retrospective study evaluated Veterans admitted for HF to Veterans Administration hospitals who received PC consultation from October 2010 through August 2017. Methods: We propensity-matched Black to White Veterans using demographic, comorbidity, clinical, hospital, and survival time data. Results: Propensity matching of our cohort ( n = 5638) yielded 796 Black and White Veterans (total n = 1592) who were well-matched on observed variables (standard mean difference <0.15 for all variables). Matched Black Veterans had more burdensome transitions than White Veterans ( n = 218, 27.4% vs. n = 174, 21.9%; p = 0.011) over the six-month follow-up period. Conclusions: This propensity-matched cohort found racial differences in burdensome transitions among admitted HF patients after PC consultation.
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Zametkin et al. (2022) conducted a cohort in Heart failure (n=1,592). Black race vs. White race was evaluated on burdensome transitions (p=0.011). Black Veterans hospitalized with heart failure who received palliative care had significantly more burdensome transitions than matched White Veterans over 6 months (27.4% vs. 21.9%; p=0.011).
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