Unraveling ethnic disparities in antipsychotic prescribing among patients with psychosis: A retrospective cohort study based on electronic clinical records

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have shown mixed evidence on ethnic disparities in antipsychotic prescribing among patients with psychosis in the UK, partly due to small sample sizes. This study aimed to examine the current state of antipsychotic prescription with respect to patient ethnicity among the entire population known to a large UK mental health trust with non-affective psychosis, adjusting for multiple potential risk factors.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study included all patients (N = 19,291) who were aged 18 years or over at their first diagnoses of non-affective psychosis (identified with the ICD-10 codes of F20-F29) recorded in electronic health records (EHRs) at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust until March 2021. The most recently recorded antipsychotic treatments and patient attributes were extracted from EHRs, including both structured fields and free-text fields processed using natural language processing applications. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to calculate the odds ratios (OR) for antipsychotic prescription according to patient ethnicity, adjusted for multiple potential contributing factors, including demographic (age and gender), clinical (diagnoses, duration of illness, service use and history of cannabis use), socioeconomic factors (level of deprivation and own-group ethnic density in the area of residence) and temporal changes in clinical guidelines (date of prescription).

RESULTS

The cohort consisted of 43.10 % White, 8.31 % Asian, 40.80 % Black, 2.64 % Mixed, and 5.14 % of patients from Other ethnicity. Among them, 92.62 % had recorded antipsychotic receipt, where 24.05 % for depot antipsychotics and 81.72 % for second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) medications. Most ethnic minority groups were not significantly different from White patients in receiving any antipsychotic. Among those receiving antipsychotic prescribing, Black patients were more likely to be prescribed depot (adjusted OR 1.29, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.47), but less likely to receive SGA (adjusted OR 0.85, 95 % CI 0.74-0.97), olanzapine (OR 0.82, 95 % CI 0.73-0.92) and clozapine (adjusted OR 0.71, 95 % CI 0.6-0.85) than White patients. All the ethnic minority groups were less likely to be prescribed olanzapine than the White group.

CONCLUSIONS

Black patients with psychosis had a distinct pattern in antipsychotic prescription, with less use of SGA, including olanzapine and clozapine, but more use of depot antipsychotics, even when adjusting for the effects of multiple demographic, clinical and socioeconomic factors. Further research is required to understand the sources of these ethnic disparities and eliminate care inequalities.

Disparity in access for people with disabilities to outpatient dental care services: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

People with disabilities face difficulties in oral health management and gaining access to dental care. The availability of a regular source of dental care (RSDC) is an important factor that influences the access to health services and care management. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the availability of RSDC on the number of annual dental visits and dental expenses per visit among people with disabilities.

METHODS

Data of 7,896,251 patients with dental problems in South Korea were analyzed using the 2002-2018 National Health Insurance claims data. A generalized estimating equation was applied to analyze the repeated-measurement data, and the interaction effect between RSDC and the disability severity was evaluated.

RESULTS

The number of annual dental visits was higher among people with (2.62) than among those without (2.23) disabilities. Despite their increased dental needs, both annual dental visits and dental expenses per visit were low among older individuals (p < 0.001). The proportion and frequency of annual dental visits was lower among women than among men with disabilities. RSDC had differential effects on the severity of disability. Compared to people without disabilities, RSDC increased the number of annual dental visits (p = 0.067) and the dental expenses per visit (p < 0.05) among those with severe disabilities, but the effect on the number of annual dental visits was not significant among those with mild disabilities (p = 0.698).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest a need for a special dental care system for people with disabilities, to ensure an RSDC, particularly for women and for older people with disabilities.

Adverse stroke outcomes amongst UK ethnic minorities: a multi-centre registry-based cohort study of acute stroke

OBJECTIVE

Socioeconomic and health inequalities persist in multicultural western countries. Here, we compared outcomes following an acute stroke amongst ethnic minorities with Caucasian patients.

METHODS

Data were prospectively collected (2014-2016) from the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme for 3309 patients who were admitted with an acute stroke in four UK hyperacute stroke units. Associations between variables were examined by chi-squared tests and multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for age, sex, prestroke functional limitations and co-morbidities, presented as odds ratios (OR) with 95% CI.

RESULTS

There were 3046 Caucasian patients, 95 from ethnic minorities (mostly South Asians, Blacks, mixed race and a few in other ethnic groups) and 168 not stated. Compared with Caucasian patients, those from ethnic minorities had a proportionately higher history of diabetes (33.7% vs 15.4%, P < 0.001), but did not differ in other chronic conditions, functional limitations or sex distribution. Their age of stroke onset was younger both in women (76.8 year vs 83.2 year, P < 0.001) and in men (69.5 year vs 75.9 year, P = 0.002). They had greater risk for having a stroke before the median age of 79.5 year: OR = 2.15 (1.36-3.40) or in the first age quartile (< 69 year): OR = 2.91 (1.86-4.54), requiring palliative care within the first 72 h: OR = 3.88 (1.92-7.83), nosocomial pneumonia or urinary tract infection within the first 7 days of admission: OR = 1.86 (1.06-3.28), and in-hospital mortality: OR = 2.50 (1.41-4.44).

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with Caucasian patients, those from ethnic minorities had earlier onset of an acute stroke by about 5 years and a 2- to fourfold increase in many stroke-related adverse outcomes and death.

Social Vulnerabilities and Spatial Access to Primary Healthcare through Car and Public Transportation System in the Albuquerque, NM, Metropolitan Area: Assessing Disparities through GIS and Multilevel Modeling

Primary healthcare (PHC) is a keystone component of population health. However, inequities in public transportation access hinder equitable usage of PHC services by minoritized populations. Using the multimodal enhanced 2-step floating catchment area method and data in 2018 and 2019 for spatial access to PHC providers (n = 1166) and social vulnerability markers through census block (n = 543) and tract data (n = 226), a generalized linear mixed-effect model (GLMEM) was constructed to test the effects of sociodemographic and community area correlates on both car and bus transit spatial access to PHC in the Albuquerque, New Mexico (NM) metropolitan area. Results for bus spatial access to PHC showed lower access for Hispanics (B =  - 0.097 ± 0.029 [- 0.154, - 0.040]) and non-Hispanic Whites (B =  - 0.106 ± 0.032 [- 0.169, - 0.043]) and a positive association between single-family households and bus spatial access (B = 1.573 ± 0.349 [0.866, 2.261]). Greater disability vulnerability (B =  - 0.569 ± 0.173 [- 0.919, - 0.259]) and language vulnerability (B =  - 0.569 ± 0.173 [- 0.919, - 0.259]) were associated with decreased bus spatial access. For car spatial access to PHC, greater SES vulnerability (B =  - 0.338 ± 0.021 [- 1.568, -0.143]), disability (B =  - 0.721 ± .092 [- 0.862, - 0.50 9]), and language vulnerability (B =  - 0.686 ± 0.172 [- 1.044, - 0.362]) were associated with less car spatial access. Results indicate a disproportionate burden of low PHC access among disadvantaged population groups who rely heavily on public transportation. These results necessitate targeted interventions to reduce these disparities in access to PHC.

The health service use of aged rural-to-urban migrant workers in different types of cities in China

BACKGROUND

The association between different types of cities and the use of health services by aged migrant workers in China has not been widely reported in previous studies. This article aims to focus on rural-to-urban migrant workers in China aged 50 years and older to examine the relationship between the region of these migrant workers' destination city (eastern, central or western) and migration city type (first-tier, second-tier, third-tier and smaller cities) and their use of health services (e.g., establishing health records, participating in health education, and seeking medical treatment when ill).

METHODS

This study's data were obtained from China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2017. A total of 14,732 rural-to-urban migrant workers aged 50 years and older were included in the analysis; 6,938 of the migrant workers were either ill or had recently experienced physical discomfort. A chi-square test and binary logistic regression were performed to explore the associations between these rural-urban migrants' destination cities and their use of health services.

RESULTS

This study found that aged rural migrant workers who moved to the east or to first- or second-tier cities were less likely to establish health records, participate in health education programme, and seek medical care.

CONCLUSIONS

Migrant destination cities are linked to the use of local health services by migrant workers aged 50 years and older in China. We found that aged migrant workers who migrated to relatively developed regions and cities accessed fewer health services. Such results signify that more attention should be paid to aged migrant workers' use of health services in economically developed regions and cities, to eliminate regional differences in healthcare inequality.

Gender disparities in clozapine prescription in a cohort of treatment-resistant schizophrenia in the South London and Maudsley case register

BACKGROUND

Gender disparities in treatment are apparent across many areas of healthcare. There has been little research into whether clozapine prescription, the first-line treatment for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), is affected by patient gender.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study identified 2244 patients with TRS within the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, by using a bespoke method validated against a gold-standard, manually coded, dataset of TRS cases. The outcome and exposures were identified from the free-text using natural language processing applications (including machine learning and rules-based approaches) and from information entered in structured fields. Multivariable logistic regression was carried out to calculate the odds ratios for clozapine prescription according to patients' gender, and adjusting for numerous potential confounders including sociodemographic, clinical (e.g., psychiatric comorbidities and substance use), neutropenia, functional factors (e.g., problems with occupation), and clinical monitoring.

RESULTS

Clozapine was prescribed to 77% of the women and 85% of the men with TRS. Women had reduced odds of being prescribed clozapine as compared to men after adjusting for all factors included in the present study (adjusted OR: 0.66; 95% CI 0.44-0.97; p = 0.037).

CONCLUSION

Women with TRS are less likely to be prescribed clozapine than men with TRS, even when considering the effects of multiple clinical and functional factors. This finding suggests there could be gender bias in clozapine prescription, which carries ramifications for the relatively poorer care of women with TRS regarding many outcomes such as increased hospitalisation, mortality, and poorer quality of life.

Healthcare inequities and barriers to access for homeless individuals: a qualitative study in Barcelona (Spain)

BACKGROUND

In Spain, homeless individuals have lower perceived quality of health than the rest of the population and their life expectancy is 30 years lower than the national average. While the Spanish health system provides universal access and coverage, homeless individuals do not access or use public care enough to maintain their health. The objective of this study is to determine if homeless individuals can access public health services in conditions of equality with the rest of the population, as established in healthcare legislation, and to better understand the causes of observed inequalities or inequities of access.

METHODS

A detailed qualitative study was carried out in the city of Barcelona (Spain) from October 2019 to February 2020. A total of nine open and in-depth interviews were done with homeless individuals along with seven semi-structured interviews with key informants and two focus groups. One group was composed of eight individuals who were living on the street at the time and the other consisted of eight individuals working in healthcare and social assistance.

RESULTS

The participants indicated that homeless individuals tend to only access healthcare services when they are seriously ill or have suffered some kind of injury. Once there, they tend to encounter significant barriers that might be 1) administrative; 2) personal, based on belief that that will be poorly attended, discriminated against, or unable to afford treatment; or 3) medical-professional, when health professionals, who understand the lifestyle of this population and their low follow-through with treatments, tend towards minimalist interventions that lack the dedication they would apply to other groups of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions derived from this study convey the infrequent use of health services by homeless individuals for reasons attributable to the population itself, to healthcare workers and to the entire healthcare system. Accordingly, to reduce inequities of access to these services, recommendations to healthcare service providers include adapting facilities to provide more adequate care for this population; increasing sensitivity/awareness among healthcare workers; developing in situ care systems in places where the homeless population is most concentrated; and establishing healthcare collaboration agreements with entities that work with this population.

Social diversity and access to healthcare in Europe: how does European Union's legislation prevent from discrimination in healthcare?

Background

Social diversity can affect healthcare outcomes in situations when access to healthcare is limited for specific groups. Although the principle of equality is one of the central topics on the agenda of the European Union (EU), its scope in the field of healthcare, however, is relatively unexplored. The aim of this study is to identify and systematically analyze primary and secondary legislation of the EU Institutions that concern the issue of access to healthcare for various minority groups. In our research, we have concentrated on three features of diversity: a) gender identity and sexual orientation, b) race and ethnicity, and c) religion or belief.

Method and materials

For the purpose of this analysis, we conducted a search of database Eur-Lex, the official website of European Union law and other public documents of the European Union, based on specific keywords accompanied by review of secondary literature. Relevant documents were examined with regard to the research topic. Our search covered documents that were in force between 13 December 2007 and 31 July 2019.

Results

Generally, the EU legal system prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, racial or ethnic origin, sex, and sexual orientation. However, with regard to the issue of non-discrimination in access to healthcare EU secondary law provides protection against discrimination only on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin and sex. The issue of discrimination in healthcare on the grounds of religion or belief, gender identity and sexual orientation is not specifically addressed under EU secondary law.

Discussion

The absence of regulations regarding non-discrimination in the EU secondary law in the area of healthcare may result from the division of competences between the European Union and the Member States. Reluctance of the Member States to adopt comprehensive antidiscrimination regulations leads to a situation, in which protection in access to healthcare primarily depends on national regulations.

Conclusions

Our study shows that EU antidiscriminatory law with regard to access to healthcare is fragmentary. Prohibition of discrimination of the level of European binding law does not fully encompass all aspects of social diversity.

Is it unfair for the affluent to be able to purchase "better" healthcare? Existential standards and institutional norms in healthcare attitudes across 28 countries

Existing research has found that individuals often perceive healthcare inequalities as unfair; yet, there is high variation in unfairness perceptions between countries. This raises the question of whether the institutional context of the healthcare system is associated with what people perceive as unfair. Using data from the ISSP study and OECD health expenditure data from 2011/13, we explore whether individual attitudes about the unfairness of healthcare inequality - the ability to purchase "better" healthcare for the affluent - vary systematically with a country's institutional environment: namely, with the prevalence of cost barriers to healthcare access, and with the degree and type of public healthcare financing. Three general findings emerge from the analysis: (1) Higher cost barriers correlate with lower levels of perceived unfairness in healthcare inequality, suggesting those exposed to greater levels of inequality tend to be more accepting of inequality. This finding is consistent with empirical justice theory and the expected relevance of an 'existential' standard of justice, stemming from individuals' proclivities to accept the status quo as just. (2) Further, greater public financing of healthcare correlates with higher perceived unfairness. Drawing on neo-institutionalist theory, this may suggest that greater public financing enshrines access to healthcare as a universal right, and hence provides an ideational framing that delegitimizes unequal opportunities for purchasing better healthcare. (3) Further, higher unfairness perceptions of lower income and educational groups are more strongly associated with greater public financing than those of their respective comparison groups. This may indicate that the normative right to healthcare is of particular importance to the disadvantaged, which could potentially explain the political quiescence on healthcare of lower income and educated persons in societies that lack universal health systems. In sum, this study contributes to the larger debate on the interrelatedness of healthcare institutions and public opinion, and specifically on perceptions of unfairness.

Unequal representation of genetic variation across ancestry groups creates healthcare inequality in the application of precision medicine

An important application of modern genomics is diagnosing genetic disorders. We use the largest publicly available exome sequence database to show that this key clinical service can currently be performed much more effectively in individuals of European genetic ancestry.

Health inequalities in hypertension and diabetes management among the poor in urban areas: a population survey analysis in south Korea

BACKGROUND

This study investigated whether the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and diabetes differed by residential areas. In addition, the rate of good hypertension or diabetes control was examined separately in men and women, and in urban and rural areas.

METHODS

This study used Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination V (2010-2012) data, a nationwide cross-sectional survey of general South Korean population. Residential areas were categorized into urban and rural areas. To examine differences between the residential areas in terms of prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension and diabetes we performed a multivariate logistic regression adjusting for age, body mass index, physical activity, alcohol use, smoking, marital status, monthly income, and educational level. To investigate control of hypertension or diabetes within each residential area, we performed a subgroup analysis in both urban and rural areas.

RESULTS

The prevalence of hypertension is higher among men in urban areas than among those in rural areas (OR = 0.80; 95 % CI = 0.67-0.96, reference group = urban areas). However, the subgroups did not differ in terms of diabetes prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control. Regardless of both sex and residential area, participants in good control of their hypertension and diabetes were younger. Inequality in good control of hypertension was observed in men who lived in urban (≤Elementary school, OR 0.74, 95 % CI 0.60-0.92) and rural areas (≤Elementary school, OR 0.67, 95 % CI 0.46-0.99). Inequality in health status was found in women who resided in urban areas (≤Elementary school, OR 0.53, 95 % CI 0.37-0.75). Good control of diabetes also showed inequalities in health status for both men (≤Elementary school, OR 0.61, 95 % CI 0.40-0.94; Middle/High school, OR 0.69, 95 % CI 0.49-0.96) and women in urban areas (≤1 million won, OR 0.56, 95 % CI 0.33-0.93) (Reference group = '≥College' for education and '>3 million' Korean won for income).

CONCLUSIONS

After correction for individual socioeconomic status, differences by residential area were not observed. However, when the participants with good disease control were divided by region, inequality was confirmed in urban residents. Therefore, differentiated health policies to resolve individual and regional health inequalities are necessary.