Airlift Services Underused for Minority Patients With Severe Trauma
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Jan. 28, 2025 -- Racial and ethnic minority patients with severe trauma are less likely to receive airlift services compared with White patients in the United States, according to a study published online Jan. 22 in JAMA Surgery.
Christian Mpody, M.D., Ph.D., from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues assessed if racial and ethnic disparities exist in the use of air transport for U.S. patients with severe trauma. The analysis included 341,286 patients treated at 458 level I or II trauma centers with helicopter service, identified from the National Trauma Data Bank (2016 to 2022).
The researchers found that Asian individuals were less likely to receive helicopter transport than White individuals (6.8 versus 21.8 percent; adjusted relative risk [aRR], 0.38), driven by lower use for Asian patients in teaching hospitals (aRR, 0.29) and level I trauma centers (aRR, 0.33). Black patients also were less likely to receive helicopter transport (8.7 versus 21.8 percent; aRR, 0.42), particularly in teaching hospitals (aRR, 0.41) and level I trauma centers (aRR, 0.40). Less pronounced disparities were observed for Hispanic patients. There was a lower mortality risk seen for those transported via helicopter versus ground transport (37.7 versus 42.6 percent; aRR, 0.87).
"The current expansion of air transport use after severe trauma in the United States has yet to translate into equitable trauma care across racial and ethnic groups," the authors write.
One author disclosed holding patents for acyclic cucurbiturils for reversal of drugs of abuse and neuromuscular blocking agents.
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted January 2025
Read this next
Swept-Source Anterior Segment OCT Can Help Distinguish Early Childhood Glaucoma
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- The noninvasive swept-source anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) can diagnose early-onset childhood glaucoma, according to a study...
Semaglutide Plus Intensive Behavioral Therapy Most Beneficial for Weight Loss
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Weight loss treatment combining personalized semaglutide with intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) yields weight loss similar to that reported in...
Higher Social Media Use Tied to Subsequent Depressive Symptoms in Youth
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Higher social media use is associated with greater subsequent depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a study published online May 21...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.