Assessing the Role of Patient Race in Disparity of 90-Day Brain Tumor Resection Outcomes

Background The present study assesses the influence of race on patient outcomes in a brain tumor surgery population. Methods Coarsened exact matching (CEM) was used to retrospectively analyze 1700 supratentorial brain tumor procedures over a six-year period (June 07, 2013 to April 29, 2019) at a single, multi-hospital academic medical center. Outcome measures included readmission, mortality, emergency room visits and reoperation. Results McNemar’s test (mid-P) showed no significant difference in 90-day mortality between the two races (p = .3018). However, there was a significant difference in 90-day readmissions between the two races (p = 0.0237). There was no significant difference in 90-day ER Visits (p = 0.0579), 90 day return to surgery after index admission (p = 0.6015), or return to surgery within 90 days (p = .6776) between the two races. There was also no significant difference in return to surgery for the duration of the follow-up period (p = .8728). Conclusion This study suggests that race alone does not result in disparate outcomes, although there was an associated difference in 90-day post-surgical readmissions. Despite coarsened exact matching persistent differences in median household income may play a role in the disparate outcome noted.