The study found that the doctor's race did not seem to have an effect on the mortality rate for White babies.
Black newborn babies in the United States are three times more likely than White Babies to die when looked after by White doctors, a study conducted by researchers from George Mason University has found. The research also found that the mortality rate of Black newborns in hospital shrunk by between 39 percent and 58 percent when Black physicians were in charge of the birth. Although researchers did not identify a particular reason for this worrisome disparity, they recommend that hospitals invest time and resources to survey the connection between institutional racism and newborn mortality rates.
"Children are dying as a result of just structural problems," said Brad Greenwood, study co-author of a study showing that Black babies in the U.S. die at three times the rate of white newborns during their initial hospital stays. https://t.co/sXszOutAFg
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 19, 2020
According to CNN, researchers from George Mason University analyzed data capturing 1.8 million hospital births in Florida between 1992 and 2015 for their study, which was published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). While this analysis found that Black newborns have better chances of surviving childbirth when cared for by Black doctors, the doctor's race did not seem to have an effect on the mortality rate for White babies. These findings support previous research on the subject, which has shown that — while infant mortality rates have fallen in recent decades — Black children are significantly more likely to die earlier than their White counterparts.
We explore racial concordance in infant mortality. In the US Black infants die at 3 times the rate of white. The reasons are complex and multifactorial as discussed by many scholars like @DrDaraDMendez @maeveellen @mclemoremr @drbdchambers and many many more. 2/12
— Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH (@RRHDr) August 17, 2020
"Recent work has emphasized the benefits of patient-physician concordance on clinical care outcomes for underrepresented minorities, arguing it can ameliorate outgroup biases, boost communication, and increase trust. We explore concordance in a setting where racial disparities are particularly severe: childbirth," states the study. "Results further suggest that these benefits manifest during more challenging births and in hospitals that deliver more Black babies. We find no significant improvement in maternal mortality when birthing mothers share race with their physician."
So, leveraging data from Florida between 1992 & 2015, we posit that differences in survival rates across Black and white newborns during childbirth may be ameliorated by racial concordance between physician and newborn patient. 4/12
— Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH (@RRHDr) August 17, 2020
Our study provides the First evidence that the Black-white newborn mortality gap is smaller when Black MDs provide care for Black newborns than when white MDs do, lending support to research examining the importance of racial concordance in addressing health care inequities.6/12
— Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH (@RRHDr) August 17, 2020
Sharing the findings of their research on Twitter, co-author Rachel Hardeman tweeted: "Our study provides the first evidence that the Black-White newborn mortality gap is smaller when Black MDs provide care for Black newborns than when White MDs do, lending support to research examining the importance of racial concordance in addressing health care inequities... Black babies have been dying at disproportionate rates since as long as we've collected data. The time is now to change this and to ensure that Black infants are afforded the opportunity to thrive."
Consider that Black people make up 13% of the US population but only 5% of the MD workforce. Also read https://t.co/DnN5m3vAiV where we (@EmedinaEduardo & @RheaBoydMD)describe the need to “Desegregate the health care workforce” 8/12
— Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH (@RRHDr) August 17, 2020
While more research is needed to illuminate our study findings, we must continue to support the important work already happening by incredible Scholars & Black Orgs: @BlkMamasMatter @mclemoremr @doccrearperry @SisterSong_WOC @RJEpiOBWarrior and many more. 10/12
— Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH (@RRHDr) August 17, 2020
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, it's already known that Black infants have 2.3 times the infant mortality rate as White infants and are 3.8 times as likely to die from complications related to low birth weight as compared to their White counterparts. "Strikingly, these effects appear to manifest more strongly in more complicated cases, and when hospitals deliver more Black newborns," the authors wrote. "The findings suggest that Black physicians outperform their White colleagues when caring for Black newborns."
Although the authors did not speculate about the reasons behind this worrisome pattern, they wrote: "Taken with this work, it gives warrant for hospitals and other care organizations to invest in efforts to reduce such biases and explore their connection to institutional racism. Reducing racial disparities in newborn mortality will also require raising awareness among physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators about the prevalence of racial and ethnic disparities." The little research available on the correlation between race and healthcare has provided indisputable proof that it can mean the difference between life and death for Black families. It stands to reason that more studies need to be conducted on how systemic racism exists in the healthcare industry.
Black newborn babies in the US are more likely to survive childbirth if they are cared for by Black doctors, but three times more likely to die when looked after by White doctors, a study finds. https://t.co/cwZ3BZmlL2
— CNN (@CNN) August 18, 2020