When Should We Intubate in Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure?

Association between Patient Race and Ethnicity and Use of Invasive Ventilation in the United States

Rationale: Outcomes for people with respiratory failure in the United States vary by patient race and ethnicity. Invasive ventilation is an important treatment initiated based on expert opinion. It is unknown whether the use of invasive ventilation varies by patient race and ethnicity. Objectives: To measure 1) the association between patient race and ethnicity and the use of invasive ventilation; and 2) the change in 28-day mortality mediated by any association. Methods: We performed a multicenter cohort study of nonintubated adults receiving oxygen within 24 hours of intensive care admission using the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV, 2008-2019) and Phillips eICU (eICU, 2014-2015) databases from the United States. We modeled the association between patient race and ethnicity (Asian, Black, Hispanic, White) and invasive ventilation rate using a Bayesian multistate model that adjusted for baseline and time-varying covariates, calculated hazard ratios (HRs), and estimated 28-day hospital mortality changes mediated by differential invasive ventilation use. We reported posterior means and 95% credible intervals (CrIs). Results: We studied 38,258 patients, 52% (20,032) from MIMIC-IV and 48% (18,226) from eICU: 2% Asian (892), 11% Black (4,289), 5% Hispanic (1,964), and 81% White (31,113). Invasive ventilation occurred in 9.2% (3,511), and 7.5% (2,869) died. The adjusted rate of invasive ventilation was lower in Asian (HR, 0.82; CrI, 0.70-0.95), Black (HR, 0.78; CrI, 0.71-0.86), and Hispanic (HR, 0.70; CrI, 0.61-0.79) patients compared with White patients. For the average patient, lower rates of invasive ventilation did not mediate differences in 28-day mortality. For a patient on high-flow nasal cannula with inspired oxygen fraction of 1.0, the odds ratios for mortality if invasive ventilation rates were equal to the rate for White patients were 0.97 (CrI, 0.91-1.03) for Asian patients, 0.96 (CrI, 0.91-1.03) for Black patients, and 0.94 (CrI, 0.89-1.01) for Hispanic patients. Conclusions: Asian, Black, and Hispanic patients had lower rates of invasive ventilation than White patients. These decreases did not mediate harm for the average patient, but we could not rule out harm for patients with more severe hypoxemia.