Pediatric patients who are Black or speak a language other than English acquire central line-associated bloodstream infections at a rate higher than non-minority children, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics on May 30.
However, after hospitals made "equity-focused quality improvements," infection rates for both populations declined.
Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle analyzed the differences in central line infection rates for "pediatric patients of minoritized racial, ethnic and language groups" and studied outcomes after improvements were made. The analysis focused on the outcomes of 8,269 children hospitalized with central lines between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2019, at a freestanding quaternary care children's hospital.
"These findings suggest that assessing hospital quality metrics for disparities can be an indicator of racism and bias and that targeted interventions to improve equitable care with a specific focus on health care-associated infections may be feasible," the study's authors said.