American heart journal
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American heart journal · Apr 2011
Hospital racial composition: a neglected factor in cardiac arrest survival disparities.
Racial disparities in survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have been reported, but their causes remain uncertain. We sought to determine if hospital racial composition accounted for survival differences for patients hospitalized after cardiac arrest. ⋯ Hospitals with large black patient populations had worse cardiac arrest outcomes than predominantly white hospitals, and blacks were more likely to be admitted to these high-mortality hospitals. Understanding these differences in survival outcomes may uncover the causes for these disparities and lead to improved survival for all cardiac arrest victims.