Racial and ethnic minorities experience more adverse events, including adverse drug events and hospital-acquired infections, a study published in Hospital Pediatrics found.
The researchers used a pediatric global trigger tool to find disparities in safety events for a large, random sample of pediatric patients in 16 hospitals.
They found Latino children experienced nearly twice the rate of adverse events when compared to white children.
Additionally, publicly insured children experienced higher adverse event rates when compared with privately insured children.
"Further investigation may reveal underlying mechanisms of these disparities and could help hospitals reduce harm," the researchers concluded.