• Claudia P Orlas, Courtney Rentas, Kaman Hau, Gezzer Ortega, Sabrina E Sanchez, Haytham Ma Kaafarani, Ali Salim, and Juan P Herrera-Escobar.
• From the Center for Surgery and Public Health (Orlas, Rentas, Hau, Ortega, Herrera-Escobar), Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
• J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2023 Jan 1; 236 (1): 475647-56.

BackgroundThe impact of disparities at the intersection of multiple marginalized social identities is poorly understood in trauma. We sought to evaluate the joint effect of race, ethnicity, and sex on new functional limitations 6 to 12 months postinjury.Study DesignModerately to severely injured patients admitted to one of three Level I trauma centers were asked to complete a phone-based survey assessing functional outcomes 6 to 12 months postinjury. Multivariate adjusted regression analyses were used to compare functional limitations by race and ethnicity alone, sex alone, and the interaction between both race and ethnicity and sex. The joint disparity and its composition were calculated across race and sex strata.ResultsIncluded were 4,020 patients: 1,621 (40.3%) non-Hispanic White male patients, 1,566 (39%) non-Hispanic White female patients, 570 (14.2%) Black or Hispanic/Latinx male patients, and 263 (6.5%) Black or Hispanic/Latinx female patients (BHF). The risk-adjusted incidence of functional limitations was highest among BHF (50.6%) vs non-Hispanic White female patients (39.2%), non-Hispanic White male patients (35.8%), and Black or Hispanic male patients (34.6%; p < 0.001). In adjusted analysis, women (odds ratio 1.35 [95% CI 1.16 to 1.57]; p < 0.001) and Blacks or Hispanic patients (odds ratio 1.28 [95% CI 1.03 to 1.58]; p = 0.02) were more likely to have new functional limitations 6 to 12 months postinjury. When sex and race were analyzed together, BHF were more likely to have new functional limitations compared with non-Hispanic White male patients (odds ratio 2.12 [1.55 to 2.90]; p < 0.001), with 63.5% of this joint disparity being explained by the intersection of race and ethnicity and sex.ConclusionMore than half of the race and sex disparity in functional limitations experienced by BHF is explained by the unique experience of being both minority and a woman. Intermediate modifiable factors contributing to this intersectional disparity must be identified.Copyright © 2022 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

19 keywords...

hide…