The association between race/ethnicity and outcomes following primary shoulder arthroplasty

Although prior studies have reported health disparities in total knee and hip arthroplasty, few have evaluated the effect of race/ethnicity on total shoulder arthroplasty, particularly in a setting in which patients have uniform access to care. Because the procedural volume of shoulder arthroplasty has increased dramatically over the past decade, evaluating the association between race/ethnicity and postoperative outcomes is warranted. We sought to evaluate racial/ethnic disparities in adverse postoperative events within a universally insured shoulder arthroplasty cohort in an integrated health care system.

An integrated health care system's registry was used to identify patients who underwent elective primary (total or reverse) shoulder arthroplasty from 2005 to 2016. Four mutually exclusive race/ethnicity groups were investigated: white, Asian, black, and Hispanic. Racial differences were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression for all-cause revision and conditional logistic regression for 90-day unplanned readmissions and 90-day emergency department (ED) visits while adjusting for confounders.

Of the 8360 shoulder procedures, 2% were performed in Asian patients; 5%, black patients; 9%, Hispanic patients; and 84%, white patients. Compared with white patients, Hispanic patients had a 44% lower revision risk (hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-0.97). Black patients had a 45% higher likelihood of a 90-day ED visit (odds ratio, 1.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.89).

We found minority groups to have revision and unplanned readmission risks that were similar to or lower than those of white patients. However, black patients had a higher likelihood of ED visits. Further investigation is needed to determine the reasons for this disparity and identify interventions to mitigate unnecessary ED visits.