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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 The researchers reviewed Medicare data on people age 65 and older who were hospitalized between 1992 and 2005. They found that 433,985 people were given in-hospital CPR during that time and that 18.3 percent of them survived until discharged.
More black and other non-white patients were given CPR, the study found, but the survival rate was about 24 percent lower for black than for white patients. Ehlenbach said the researchers were somewhat surprised by this finding and did further analysis to see whether the rate varied depending on the facility where someone was hospitalized.
In other words, were minorities receiving care in hospitals that had lower rates of survival after CPR? The study found that the "difference seems to be a hospital effect," Ehlenbach said.
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Dr. Daniel Brauner, an associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center, said that disparities in health care might very well play a role in the racial differences found in the study, but that those differences also might indicate a need for increased education and communication.
"In this study, blacks are requesting almost twice the rate of CPR," Brauner said. "They don't want 'do not resuscitate' orders."
"The reasons for this are probably multifold," he said. "Some may not have had access to health care in the past, and now that they do, they want to make use of all of the technologies. The other part of it is a trust issue. You really have to be able to trust your physician" when making end-of-life care decisions.
The study also found that people who survived CPR were less likely to go home than in the past. Instead, more were ransferred to longer-term care facilities.
"Sometimes it's in your best interest to forego CPR," Brauner said. "There is a burden that comes with getting these therapies. And, if you're at the end stage of a chronic illness, CPR isn't going to change that. There are much more pleasant ways to approach end-of-life care."
More information
The American Heart Association has more on CPR.
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