No racial or ethnic disparity in treatment of long-bone fractures

Studies of data from the 1990s are often cited as evidence of racial and ethnic disparities in pain management. Subsequent evidence supporting this association has not been consistent. The objective was to assess whether there are racial or ethnic disparities in receipt of analgesics for pain from long-bone fractures more recently and in a different region of the United States. We conducted a retrospective chart review of 449 patients. Twenty-three percent (53/235) of Hispanic patients, 31% (41/133) of African American patients, and 26% (21/81) of white patients did not receive analgesics. Compared with white patients, the relative risk of not receiving analgesics was 1.31 (95% confidence interval, 0.74-2.03) for African Americans and 0.90 (95% confidence interval, 0.05-1.47) for Hispanic patients after controlling for age, sex, mechanism, marital status, mode of arrival, fracture reduction, fracture type, disposition, and insurance status. We did not find evidence of racial or ethnic disparities in the management of pain from long-bone fractures.