Abstract
Background: Approximately, 10 million Americans have an outpatient physical therapy or occupational therapy visit per year. This population is largely Caucasian, insured, educated and middle or high income. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the existence of racial and/or ethnic disparities in patients with self-reported arthritis accessing office-based therapy services in the USA. Method: A pooled analytic file of 2008–2010 data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Household Survey was created. We first conducted a descriptive analysis of the utilization of therapy services for persons reporting arthritis. From the descriptive analysis, we formulated experimental hypotheses that we tested to determine if a racial disparity existed to access therapy services between White and Asian persons with arthritis and Black/Hispanic populations. To test our hypotheses, we determined the odd ratios using a logistic regression analysis. We conducted a similar analysis controlling for education, income, and insurance status. Results: Eight percent of the US adult population with self-reported arthritis has an office-based therapy visit each year. Hispanic and Black Americans with arthritis have a reduced odds of a therapy visit (26.5 % [95 % CI 7–42 %] and 44.8 % [95 % CI 31.9–55.3 %], respectively). We did not find a similar effect on odds of a therapy visit for the Asian American population. The effect of race/ethnicity on the odds of a therapy visit was moderated by socioeconomic variables but persists for Black Americans. Discussion/Conclusion: The results of this study confirm a reduced likelihood of an office-based therapy visit for Black Americans with arthritis when controlled for income, insurance, and education. An effect of race/ethnicity on the likelihood of a therapy visit for Hispanic Americans with arthritis disappears when controlled for income, insurance, and education.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 599-606 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1 2017 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Health(social science)
- Sociology and Political Science
- Anthropology
- Health Policy
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Cite this
Disparities in Access to Outpatient Rehabilitation Therapy for African Americans with Arthritis. / Sandstrom, Robert W.; Bruns, Alexandria.
In: Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, Vol. 4, No. 4, 01.08.2017, p. 599-606.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Disparities in Access to Outpatient Rehabilitation Therapy for African Americans with Arthritis
AU - Sandstrom, Robert W.
AU - Bruns, Alexandria
PY - 2017/8/1
Y1 - 2017/8/1
N2 - Background: Approximately, 10 million Americans have an outpatient physical therapy or occupational therapy visit per year. This population is largely Caucasian, insured, educated and middle or high income. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the existence of racial and/or ethnic disparities in patients with self-reported arthritis accessing office-based therapy services in the USA. Method: A pooled analytic file of 2008–2010 data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Household Survey was created. We first conducted a descriptive analysis of the utilization of therapy services for persons reporting arthritis. From the descriptive analysis, we formulated experimental hypotheses that we tested to determine if a racial disparity existed to access therapy services between White and Asian persons with arthritis and Black/Hispanic populations. To test our hypotheses, we determined the odd ratios using a logistic regression analysis. We conducted a similar analysis controlling for education, income, and insurance status. Results: Eight percent of the US adult population with self-reported arthritis has an office-based therapy visit each year. Hispanic and Black Americans with arthritis have a reduced odds of a therapy visit (26.5 % [95 % CI 7–42 %] and 44.8 % [95 % CI 31.9–55.3 %], respectively). We did not find a similar effect on odds of a therapy visit for the Asian American population. The effect of race/ethnicity on the odds of a therapy visit was moderated by socioeconomic variables but persists for Black Americans. Discussion/Conclusion: The results of this study confirm a reduced likelihood of an office-based therapy visit for Black Americans with arthritis when controlled for income, insurance, and education. An effect of race/ethnicity on the likelihood of a therapy visit for Hispanic Americans with arthritis disappears when controlled for income, insurance, and education.
AB - Background: Approximately, 10 million Americans have an outpatient physical therapy or occupational therapy visit per year. This population is largely Caucasian, insured, educated and middle or high income. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the existence of racial and/or ethnic disparities in patients with self-reported arthritis accessing office-based therapy services in the USA. Method: A pooled analytic file of 2008–2010 data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Household Survey was created. We first conducted a descriptive analysis of the utilization of therapy services for persons reporting arthritis. From the descriptive analysis, we formulated experimental hypotheses that we tested to determine if a racial disparity existed to access therapy services between White and Asian persons with arthritis and Black/Hispanic populations. To test our hypotheses, we determined the odd ratios using a logistic regression analysis. We conducted a similar analysis controlling for education, income, and insurance status. Results: Eight percent of the US adult population with self-reported arthritis has an office-based therapy visit each year. Hispanic and Black Americans with arthritis have a reduced odds of a therapy visit (26.5 % [95 % CI 7–42 %] and 44.8 % [95 % CI 31.9–55.3 %], respectively). We did not find a similar effect on odds of a therapy visit for the Asian American population. The effect of race/ethnicity on the odds of a therapy visit was moderated by socioeconomic variables but persists for Black Americans. Discussion/Conclusion: The results of this study confirm a reduced likelihood of an office-based therapy visit for Black Americans with arthritis when controlled for income, insurance, and education. An effect of race/ethnicity on the likelihood of a therapy visit for Hispanic Americans with arthritis disappears when controlled for income, insurance, and education.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85013662683&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40615-016-0263-7
DO - 10.1007/s40615-016-0263-7
M3 - Article
VL - 4
SP - 599
EP - 606
JO - Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities
JF - Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities
SN - 2197-3792
IS - 4
ER -