Endovascular therapy (EVT) is less common among Black patients being treated for acute ischemic stroke (AIS) than white and Hispanic AIS patients, according to a new study published in Stroke. However, the authors noted, Black patients present at facilities where EVT is available just as often as other white patients.
Researchers examined data from 40,814 AIS cases. All patients were treated in Texas in 2019, and data came from the 2019 Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File.
Fifty-one percent of patients were women, and the median patient age was 65 years old. While 54% of the patients were white, 17% were Black and 21% were Hispanic.
Overall, EVT rates were 4.1% among Black patients, 5.3% among white patients and 4.8% among Hispanic patients. The rates of admission to EVT-performing hospitals were 62.4% among Black patients, 61.6% among white patients and 59.1% among Hispanic patients.
The probability of undergoing EVT remained lower among Black patients even after adjusting for age, comorbidities, socioeconomic factors and hospital type, the group emphasized.
“These findings support further evaluation of the factors contributing to racial disparities in access to and utilization of new AIS treatments,” wrote lead author Youngran Kim, a specialist with the department of neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center's McGovern Medical School in Houston, and colleagues.
Read the full study here.