Racial Segregation and Inequality in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for Very Low-Birth-Weight and Very Preterm Infants.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Racial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality health care than white non-Hispanic individuals in the United States. Where minority infants receive care and the role that may play in the quality of care received is unclear.

Objective

To determine the extent of segregation and inequality of care of very low-birth-weight and very preterm infants across neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in the United States.

Design, setting, and participants

This cohort study of 743 NICUs in the Vermont Oxford Network included 117 982 black, Hispanic, Asian, and white infants born at 401 g to 1500 g or 22 to 29 weeks' gestation from January 2014 to December 2016. Analysis began January 2018.

Main outcomes and measures

The NICU segregation index and NICU inequali

SUBMITTER: Horbar JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6503514 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature