Equity in the diagnosis of chest pain: race and gender.

OBJECTIVE

To explore gender and racial equity in emergency room treatment of chest pain.

METHODS

Three hundred seventy-nine patient records were analyzed, taking into account effects of age, clinic, comorbid status, and insurance status.

RESULTS

Analysis of covariance and logistic regression revealed statistically significant differences between races but not between genders for time to first EKG and percent of patients receiving cardiac catheterization and echocardiography. Blacks waited longer than whites for an EKG and were less likely to receive cardiac catheterizations but more likely to receive echocardiography.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates a lack of equity by race in treatment of chest pain emergencies.