Prolonged length of hospital stay in black and ethnic minority patients with cardiomyopathy

Purpose: Cardiomyopathies represent a heterogeneous group of conditions affect- ing the myocardium, accounting for 0.05% of all National Health Service hospital admissions, as well as a prolonged length of inpatient hospital stay (LOS). There is limited evidence regarding the inuence of ethnicity on LOS in patients with car- diomyopathy: this study aimed to determine factors affecting LOS amongst Cau- casian and ethnic minority patients presenting with cardiomyopathy. Methods: Patients admitted to hospitals across Greater Manchester, North West England, from 2000 through 2013, with an ICD (International Classication of Dis- eases) coded diagnosis of cardiomyopathy were eligible for inclusion using the ACALM (Algorithm for Comorbidities, Associations, Length of stay and Mortal- ity) study protocol. Participants were examined by LOS, ethnicity, age, gender, co-morbidities, and type of admission. Data was analysed using a logistic regression model adjusted for age, sex and co-morbidity, with the Caucasian group serving as the reference population. Results: Of 1884 patients with cardiomyopathy, a higher proportion of males (70.1%) were admitted with cardiomyopathy. Patients of mixed ethnicity showed a female preponderance (55.6%), tended to present at a younger age(44 vs. 56.7 years), suffer less comorbidities (55.6 vs. 66%), and have fewer emergency admis- sions (55.6 vs. 78.8%); however this did not impact on LOS as compared to Cau- casians (7.16 vs. 6.31 days respectively, p>0.05). Patients including Afro-Caribbean, Oriental and other ethnicities had signicantly longer LOS (p < 0.05) and higher rate of emergency admissions after accounting for variations in age, gender and co-morbidities. Conclusions: This study presents novel data suggesting that factors including eth- nicity and emergency admission may contribute to a prolonged LOS. This study may
help to raise awareness and facilitate the improvement of care provision at thosehospitals serving ethnically diverse populations.