Abstract WMP96: Racial Variation in Comfort Measures Only Status in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Abstract

Introduction: Prior studies of critically ill patients found that non-whites are less likely to pursue comfort measures only status (CMOs). We sought to identify determinants of CMOs in a large multi-ethnic cohort study of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods: We analyzed cases enrolled from 2010 to 2015 in the Ethnic/Racial Variations of ICH (ERICH) study, a multi-center study in the USA. Clinical, demographic and radiologic data on non-traumatic ICH patients were prospectively collected. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between ethnicity/race and CMOs after adjustment for potential confounders. Results: 2705 ICH cases were included in this study (mean age 62 (14), female sex 1119 [41%]). Of these, 912 were black (34%), 893 Hispanic (33%) and 900 white (33%). CMOs patients comprised 276 (10%), 64 (7%), 79 (9%) and 133 (15%) of the entire cohort and the black, Hispanic and white cohorts, respectively (p<0.001) (Table 1). In multivariate analysis, black patients were half as likely as white patients to be made CMO (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.34-0.75; p=0.001) and there was a trend for Hispanic patients to have CMOs less often than white patients (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.49-1.06, p=0.093) (Table 2). Other factors associated with CMOs included age, premorbid modified Rankin Scale, dementia, admission Glasgow Coma Scale, ICH volume, intraventricular hematoma volume, lobar and brainstem bleeds and intubation. Conclusion: Black patients were less likely than white patients to be made CMO after controlling for potential confounders. Further investigation is warranted to understand the causes and implications of racial disparities in CMO decisions.

Lack of racial and ethnic-based differences in acute care delivery in intracerebral hemorrhage

“…Interestingly, CMO status in the first 24 h of ED arrival was not associated with any acute processes of care. Past findings have shown that white patients with stroke are more likely to pursue CMO and withdraw from life-sustaining interventions compared to minorities [ 19 – 21 ] and that CMO status may lead to slower care. Contrary to the past findings, we did not find patients made CMO within 24 h of ED arrival to have received slower care.…”