Racial disparities in testing in three southeastern US hospitals.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze testing in 3 hospitals in central North Carolina to validate previous racial health-disparity findings.

METHODS

We completed a retrospective analysis of inpatient tests from 2015 to 2021 at 3 university-affiliated hospitals in North Carolina. We calculated the number of tests per 1,000 patient days stratified by race: White, Black, and non-White, non-Black (NWNB). We defined a unique test as one that occurred in an inpatient unit with a matching laboratory accession ID and on differing calendar days. Tests were evaluated overall, by hospital, by year, and by positivity rate.

RESULTS

In total, 35,160 tests and 2,571,850 patient days across all 3 hospitals from 2015 to 2021 were analyzed. The median number of tests per 1,000 patient days was 13.85 (interquartile range [IQR], 9.88-16.07). Among all tests, 5,225 (15%) were positive. White patients were administered more tests (14.46 per 1,000 patient days) than Black patients (12.96; < .0001) or NWNB race patients (10.27; < .0001). Black patients were administered more tests than NWNB patients ( < .0001). White patients tested positive at a similar rate to Black patients (15% vs 15%; = .3655) and higher than NWNB individuals (12%; = .0061), and Black patients tested positive at a higher rate than NWNB patients ( = .0024).

CONCLUSION

White patients received more tests than Black and NWNB patient groups when controlling for race patient days. Future studies should control for comorbidities and investigate community onset of by race and ethnicity.