Blacks Fare Worse After Cardiac Arrest
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay News
Black patients who suffer cardiac arrest in the hospital are much less likely to survive than white patients, a new study finds.
Most of this disparity appears to result from the hospital in which black patients receive care, although other factors play a role as well, the researchers said.
"We know that survival after having a cardiac arrest in the hospital setting has always been historically low," said lead researcher Dr. Paul S. Chan, a cardiologist at St. Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute in Kansas City. "The rate of survival has been about 30 to 33 percent on average."