Racial Disparities in Cardiogenic Shock Outcomes: Single-Center Retrospective Study

Race influences outcomes in patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, the impact of race on cardiogenic shock outcomes is unclear.

This retrospective cohort study included adult patients admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit for cardiogenic shock from June 2019 through June 2023. For analysis, patients were divided into 3 racial groups: White, Black, and other. Baseline demographics, comorbidities, admission source, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores were collected. Primary outcomes were hospital and cardiac intensive care unit mortality. Secondary outcomes were hospital and cardiac intensive care unit lengths of stay and temporary mechanical circulatory support use. Propensity score weighting was used; pairwise comparisons between each group were performed.

The analysis included 2458 patients (1959 White, 327 Black, 172 other). Black patients were younger, were less likely to be admitted from the emergency department (and more likely to be admitted from inpatient wards), and had higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores than patients in the other 2 groups. Propensity-weighted pairwise comparisons demonstrated no significant differences in hospital and cardiac intensive care unit mortality. However, Black patients had significantly longer hospital (incidence rate ratio, 1.31; P < .001) and cardiac intensive care unit (incidence rate ratio, 1.33; P = .03) stays than did White patients but not patients in the "other" group. Temporary mechanical circulatory support use did not differ among groups.

The results highlight disparities in clinical management of cardiogenic shock and the need for further research to address these inequities.