Race and Ethnicity and Emergency Department Discharge Against Medical Advice.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Although discharges against medical advice (DAMA) are associated with greater morbidity and mortality, little is known about current racial and ethnic disparities in DAMA from the emergency department (ED) nationally.

Objective

To characterize current patterns of racial and ethnic disparities in rates of ED DAMA.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study used data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample on all hospital ED visits made between January to December 2019 in the US.

Main outcomes and measures

The main outcome was odds of ED DAMA for Black and Hispanic patients compared with White patients nationally and in analysis adjusted for sociodemographic factors. Secondary analysis examined hospital-level variation in DAMA

SUBMITTER: Tsai JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10685883 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature