Abstract 16: Racial Disparities in Clinical Outcomes and Resource Utilization in Acute Ischemic Stroke Hospitalizations in the United States: Results from the 2012 National Inpatient Sample

Background and objectives: There are limited data on racial differences in clinical and economic outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) hospitalizations in the US. We sought to ascertain the effect of race on AIS outcomes in a population based retrospective cohort study. Methods: We used the 2012 National Inpatient Sample (NIS), which is the largest database of inpatient stays in the US, to identify cases of AIS using ICD9-CM codes 433.01, 433.11, 433.21, 433.31, 433.81, 433.91, 434.01, 434.11, 434.91 and 437.1 in patients >=18 years of age. Cases with missing data on race were excluded (5% of study sample). Primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included proportion receiving endovascular mechanical thrombectomy (EMT) or thrombolysis, mean inflation adjusted charges and length of stay. Linear and logistic regression was used to test differences in continuous and categorical outcomes respectively. Survey techniques were used for all analyses. Results: There were 452, 330 hospitalizations for AIS in patients >=18 years in 2012. In univariate logistic regression using race as predictor, in-hospital mortality was significantly lower for Blacks (p Conclusions: Blacks hospitalized for AIS have significantly lower in-hospital mortality compared to whites but are significantly less likely to receive thrombolysis compared to whites. Total charges and length of stay are significantly higher for racial minorities. Future studies should investigate mechanisms of this apparent protective effect of black race on in-hospital mortality in AIS.