Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Treatment of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms

AHA: 11/6/12

Background and Purpose—Minorities in the United States have less access to healthcare system resources, especially preventative treatments. We sought to determine whether racial and sex disparities existed in the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Methods—Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, hospitalizations for clipping and coiling of intracranial aneurysms from 2001 to 2009 were identified by cross-matching International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision codes for diagnosis of unruptured aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) with procedure codes for clipping or coiling of cerebral aneurysms. Demographic information analyzed included age (<50, 50–64, 65–79, and ≥80 years), race (white, black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander), sex, income quartile, primary payer (Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, self-pay, no charge, other), and Charlson comorbidity index. Read More