Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Peripartum Hysterectomy Risk and Outcomes

This study aimed to determine whether race and ethnicity contribute to risks associated with peripartum hysterectomy.

This retrospective cross-sectional study utilized the 2000-2014 Nationwide Inpatient Sample to analyze risk of peripartum hysterectomy and associated severe maternal morbidity, mortality, surgical injury, reoperation, surgical-site complications, and mortality by maternal race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity were categorized as non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, other, and unknown. Multivariable log-linear regression models including patient, clinical, and hospital risk factors were performed with adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Of 59,854,731 delivery hospitalizations, there were 45,369 peripartum hysterectomies (7.6 per thousand). Of these, 37.8% occurred among non-Hispanic white, 13.9% among non-Hispanic black, and 22.8% among Hispanic women. In adjusted analyses, non-Hispanic black (aRR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.17-1.29) and Hispanic women (aRR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.22-1.29) were at increased risk of hysterectomy compared with non-Hispanic white women. Risk for severe morbidity was increased for non-Hispanic black (aRR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.19-1.33), but not for Hispanic (aRR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.97-1.07) women. Between these three groups, risk for intraoperative complications was highest among non-Hispanic white women, risk for reoperation was highest among Hispanic women, and risk for surgical-site complications was highest among non-Hispanic black women. Evaluating maternal mortality, non-Hispanic black women (RR: 3.83, 95% CI: 2.65-5.53) and Hispanic women (RR: 2.49, 95% CI: 1.74-3.59) were at higher risk than non-Hispanic white women.

Peripartum hysterectomy and related complications other than death differed modestly by race. In comparison, mortality differentials were large supporting that differential risk for death in the setting of this high-risk scenario may be an important cause of disparities.

· Peripartum hysterectomy and related complications differed modestly by race.. · Mortality differentials in the setting of peripartum hysterectomy were large.. · Failure to rescue may be an important cause of peripartum hysterectomy disparities..