Race and ethnicity considerations in traumatic brain injury research: Incidence, reporting, and outcome

ABSTRACT

Primary Objective

This study has three goals: to determine whether there is a higher rate of traumatic brain injury (TBI) for people of color (POC), whether TBI studies report racial/ethnic demographics, and whether there is a discrepancy in discharge destinations between Whites and POC. We examined whether 1) a higher percentage of POC would sustain head injuries than expected, 2) the majority of TBI studies examined (>50%) would not include racial/ethnic demographics, and 3) Whites would be discharged to further treatment over POC.

Research Design

Retrospective study and literature review.

Methods and Procedures

Data from the Pennsylvania Trauma System Foundation was used to determine the number of POC with TBI using X² analysis, as well as where patients with TBI were being discharged using a configural frequency analysis. PubMed was used for the literature search to examine the frequency of reporting race/ethnicity in TBI literature.

Main Outcomes and Results

Results demonstrated that Blacks sustain more TBIs than would be expected (p < .05), the majority of scientific studies (78%) do not report racial/ethnic demographic information, and Whites are discharged to further care more often than POC.

Conclusions

These findings highlight differences in incidence and treatment of TBI between White individuals and POC, raising important considerations for providers and researchers.

KEYWORDS:

• Race
• ethnicity
• brain injury
• TBI
• outcome

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation.