Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 16, 1993 TAG: 9311160081
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Black women were nearly three times as likely to remain hospitalized for more than 10 days, and three times as likely to die in the hospital, researchers found in analyzing more than 50,000 patients.
The reasons for those disparities and others found in the study aren't known, said study co-author Kristen Kjerulff. But further study might illuminate important racial differences in health and medical care of women, she said.
She said the data could not reveal whether differences in health care or socioeconomic status played any role.
Kjerulff, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, presents the work in this month's issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology with colleagues at her school, its hospital and the Maryland Hospital Association.
Hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus, and it is one of the nation's most frequent operations. It is most often done to treat noncancerous tumors called fibroids, which can cause pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. Other reasons for hysterectomies include menstrual disorders, a condition called uterine prolapse in which the uterus moves down into the vagina, or cancer of the uterus or cervix.
The researchers studied hospital discharge records for all hysterectomies performed at nonmilitary hospitals in Maryland from 1986 to 1991, a total of 53,159. Seventy percent of the patients were white and 26 percent were black.
Researchers found that after they accounted for differences in age, hysterectomy technique, severity of other medical conditions and factors, black women ran about 40 percent greater risk of complications than white women had. The difference appeared in such complications as infection and unexplained fever.
by CNB