@article{ref1,
title="Racial and ethnic disparities in withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment after non-head injury trauma",
journal="American journal of surgery",
year="2021",
author="Williams, Brittney M. and Schneider, Andrew and Gallaher, Jared and Charles, Anthony",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Little is known about potential disparities in end-of-life care in trauma. We examined racial/ethnic differences in withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (WLST) in non-head injury trauma. <br><br>METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the National Trauma Databank (2017-2018), including patients ≥ 18 years without head injury. We performed a bivariate analysis by WLST status and used logistic regression to estimate adjusted odds of WLST by racial/ethnic group. <br><br>RESULTS: Of 942,914 identified, 20,052 (2.1%) died. Of those who died, WLST occurred in 29.9%. The adjusted odds of WLST were lower in Blacks (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.41-0.57) and Hispanics (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.57-0.89) than Whites. The predicted probability of WLST in Black patients remained lower than Whites at 30 days. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Among non-head injured dying patients, Blacks and Hispanics are less likely to utilize WLST than Whites. Further investigation into the socio-cultural norms and institutional distrust influencing these differences is imperative.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0002-9610",
doi="10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.08.007",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.08.007"
}