SACRAMENTO, United States, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Black patients from rural areas who develop infections during hospital stays are nearly twice as likely to die than white urban patients, according to a new study.
The research, published on Monday in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open, examined over 214,000 adult patients admitted to three U.S. hospitals between 2017 and 2020. The study focused on infections patients developed while in hospital rather than infections they had upon admission.
Among the key findings, black patients from rural areas who developed hospital infections had a 78 percent higher risk of death compared with white urban patients. They were also 92 percent more likely to require intensive care unit admission.
"These findings suggest that factors such as structural racism and disinvestment in rural communities may be associated with individual infection risk and outcomes," said the research team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.
The study revealed some unexpected patterns. Black urban patients actually had a 19 percent lower risk of developing hospital infections compared with white urban patients.
Dr. Jennie H. Kwon, the study's corresponding author, noted that black urban patients tended to be sicker when first admitted and were more likely to receive antibiotics early in their hospital stay, which may have helped prevent subsequent infections.
Overall, about 3.1 percent of patients in the study developed infections during their hospital stays. These infections included bloodstream infections, respiratory infections, and urinary tract infections.
The researchers emphasized that their findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve care for black and rural patients. They called for policy changes and process improvements to address the structural factors contributing to these health care disparities.
The study adds to growing evidence that race and geography continue to impact health care outcomes in America. Previous research has shown that rural residents generally have less access to health care, longer distances to travel for specialty care, and higher rates of chronic disease compared with urban residents. ■
