Racial disparities in inpatient clinical presentation, treatment, and outcomes in brain metastasis.

Background: Few studies have assessed the impact of race on short-term patient outcomes in the brain metastasis population. The goal of this study is to evaluate the association of race with inpatient clinical presentation, treatment, in-hospital complications, and in-hospital mortality rates for patients with brain metastases (BM).

Method: Using data collected from the National Inpatient Sample between 2004 and 2014, we retrospectively identified adult patients with a primary diagnosis of BM. Outcomes included nonroutine discharge, prolonged length of stay (pLOS), in-hospital complications, and mortality.

Results: Minority (Black, Hispanic/other) patients were less likely to receive surgical intervention compared to White patients (odds ratio [OR] 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66-0.74,  < 0.001; OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.84-0.93,  < 0.001). Black patients were more likely to develop an in-hospital complication than White patients (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.28-1.41,  < 0.001). Additionally, minority patients were more likely to experience pLOS than White patients (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.41-1.57,  < 0.001; OR 1.34; 95% CI 1.27-1.42,  < 0.001). Black patients were more likely to experience a nonroutine discharge (OR 1.25; 95% CI 1.19-1.31,  < 0.001) and higher in-hospital mortality than White (OR 1.13; 95% CI 1.03-1.23,  = 0.008).

Conclusion: Our analysis demonstrated that race is associated with disparate short-term outcomes in patients with BM. More efforts are needed to address these disparities, provide equitable care, and allow for similar outcomes regardless of care.