Study: Black, Hispanic patients more likely to die post-surgery than white patients

Editor's Note

A new study found that Black and Hispanic patients are significantly more likely to die after a surgical procedure than white patients, Newsweek October 15 reports. The findings were presented at the 2023 Anesthesiology annual meeting.

The study analyzed over a million surgical procedures at 7,740 US hospitals between 2000 and 2020. Among the findings:

• Researchers found that Black patients are 42% more likely than white patients to die within 30 days of surgery
• Hispanic patients are 21% more likely.
• Black patients also have the highest rates of diabetes and cancer mortality rates
• Black pediatric patients have a 500% higher death rate from asthma compared with white children.

The study also noted that 10.6% of Black Americans had no health insurance in 2017, compared with 5.9% of white people. The study did not identify the causes of death of the patients, but it noted that the disparities between the groups remained constant, even as all groups experienced decreased deaths over time.