More data on health care disparity among minorities
• Heart disease. African-Americans are 13% less likely to undergo coronary angioplasty and one-third less likely to undergo bypass surgery than are whites.
• Asthma. Among preschool children hospitalized for asthma, only 7% of black and 2% of Hispanic children are prescribed routine medications to prevent future asthma-related hospitalizations, compared to 21% of white children.
• Breast cancer. The length of time between an abnormal screening mammogram and the follow-up diagnostic test to determine whether a woman has breast cancer is more than twice as long for Asian-American, African-American, and Hispanic women as for white women.
• HIV infection. African-Americans with HIV infection are less likely to be on antiretroviral therapy, less likely to receive prophylaxis for pneumocystis pneumonia, and less likely to be receiving protease inhibitors than other persons with HIV.
• Nursing home care. Asian-American, Hispanic, and African-American residents of nursing homes are all far less likely than white residents to have sensory and communication aids, such as glasses and hearing aids.
Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
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