African American race was associated with an increased risk of complications following venous thromboembolism.

Publication/Presentation Date

4-1-2007

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Limited data exist on the quality of care for patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE), and it is unknown whether the processes and outcomes of care for this illness differ between African Americans and whites.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We retrospectively studied 168 patients hospitalized for VTE in two Veterans Affairs hospitals during fiscal years 2000-2002. Patient characteristics, information about processes of care, and medical outcomes at 90 days after the index VTE event were abstracted from medical records. We used logistic regression to explore associations between race, processes of care, and the overall 90-day complication rate (i.e., death, bleeding, or recurrent VTE), adjusting for patient baseline characteristics.

RESULTS: Multivariable analysis demonstrated that administration of warfarin within 1 day of starting heparin (odds ratio [OR] 0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.05-0.42) and overlap of heparin and warfarin treatment >or=4 days (OR 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02-0.50) were associated with a lower complication rate, and African American race was associated with a higher complication rate (OR 5.2, 95% CI: 1.3-21.6). Race was not significantly associated with the performance of processes of care in multivariable analysis.

CONCLUSION: Although African Americans had an increased risk of complications following VTE, race was not independently associated with the use of processes of care for VTE.

Volume

60

Issue

4

First Page

410

Last Page

416

ISSN

0895-4356

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

17346616

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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