Disparities in care among patients presenting to the emergency department for urinary stone disease

To determine whether patients with ureteral stones received different standard of care in the emergency department (ED) according to various sociodemographic factors. We conducted a retrospective study of patients presenting to EDs in a large tertiary-care hospital in the Bronx, New York with a diagnosis of ureteral stones. Electronic chart review was used to assess each patient’s ED course and to gather socio-demographic information. The primary outcomes of interest were administration of pain medication, prescription of alpha-1 antagonists to facilitate stone passage, and whether or not patients received CT scan or ultrasound. Associations of these outcomes with age categories, sex, race/ethnicity, BMI category, socioeconomic status and insurance status were examined using multivariate logistic regression models. 1200 patients were included in this analysis of which 616 (51%) were women. A large proportion of patients were minorities: 40% Hispanic, 15% non-Hispanic Black, and 20% other/multiracial. Patients aged 55–64 years and those 65 or older were less likely to receive pain medication compared to patients < 35 years (OR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.27–0.86, p = 0.01 and OR = 0.46, 95% CI 0.21–1.00, p = 0.05, respectively). Women were less likely than men to undergo any form of diagnostic imaging (OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.35–0.76, p = 0.001). Similarly, patients in the lowest quintile of SES received less imaging than patients in the highest SES group (OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.27–0.90, p = 0.02). Finally, women were less likely to receive alpha blockade compared to men (OR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.49–0.92, p = 0.014). Multiple disparities exist among patients presenting to the emergency department for ureteral stones.