Association of race and in‐hospital outcomes following acute pulmonary embolism: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Racial disparities in health care are well established, with Black patients frequently experiencing the most significant consequences of this inequality. Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is increasing in incidence and an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, but little is known about racial disparities in the inpatient setting. HYPOTHESIS: Black and White patients admitted with acute PE will have different in‐hospital outcomes. METHODS: All PE patients from January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 were retrospectively identified using ICD‐10 codes. Data were abstracted by manual chart review for all image‐confirmed PEs. RESULTS: A total of 782 patients with acute PE were identified, of which 319 (40.8%) were Black and 463 (59.2%) were White. Black patients had higher BMI (median [Q1–Q3]: 30.3 [25.4–36.6] vs. 29.3 [24.5–33.8] kg/m(2), p = .017), were younger (61 [48–74] vs. 67 [54–75] years, p = .001), and were more likely to have a history of heart failure (16.0 vs. 7.1%, p < .001), while White patients had higher rates of malignancy (46.9 vs. 34.5%, p = .001) and recent surgery (29.6 vs. 18.2%, p < .001). Black patients were more likely to receive systemic thrombolysis (3.1% vs. 1.1%, p = .040), while White patients had numerically higher rates of surgical embolectomy (0.3% vs. 1.1%, p = .41). No difference in inpatient mortality was observed; however, Black patients had longer hospital length of stay (5.0 [3–9] vs. 4.0 [2–9] days, p = .007) and were more likely to receive warfarin (23.5 vs. 12.1%, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Similar in‐hospital mortality rates were observed in Black and White patients following acute PE. However, Black patients had longer hospital stays, higher warfarin prescription, and fewer traditional PE‐related risk factors.