Management of acute subdural hematoma in incarcerated patients

Incarcerated patients have been documented to have higher rates of mental illness, substance abuse disorders, trauma, and chronic illnesses compared to non-incarcerated populations. In this study, we evaluated the incidence of subdural hematoma (SDH) in incarcerated patients and compared the outcomes of these patients to those of non-incarcerated patients.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of incarcerated patients admitted to a hospital with acute SDH using the Nationwide Readmissions Database between 2016-2017. Nearest-neighbor propensity score matching for demographics was implemented to identify non-incarcerated control patients admitted with SDH. Analysis used chi-squared testing, Mann-Whitney U testing, and generalized binomial regression modeling.

A total of 962 incarcerated and non-incarcerated patients were identified at primary admission. No significant difference was found between the two cohorts with regards to rates of neurosurgical complications or readmissions. Incarcerated patients were found to receive a significantly lower number of procedures, including respiratory ventilation, intubation, central venous line placement, and imaging, during their primary admission (NPR = 2.7 ± 4.0) compared to non-incarcerated patients (NPR = 3.9 ± 4.9) (p = 0.00050), reduced length of stay (p = 0.0052), and reduced hospital costs (p = 0.00026) compared to non-incarcerated patients. Furthermore, female incarcerated patients with SDH had significantly worse outcomes compared to male patients with SDH, including higher rates of mortality (p = 0.0017) and 30-day readmission rates (p = 0.041).

Our study suggests that incarcerated patients may receive significantly fewer diagnostic and supportive procedures while admitted for SDH and may be discharged sooner than non-incarcerated patients with SDH. In addition, outcomes following SDH within incarcerated patients may be significantly worse for females.