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"Racial Disparities Exist in Use of Palliative Care for Patients with ESKD" - Melissa J. Webb

  • Healio: Nephrology
  • New York, NY
  • (August 12, 2019)

While the use of palliative care increased for all hospitalized patients with ESKD, black and Hispanic patients were significantly less likely to receive palliative care referrals and services than white patients, according to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “People with ESKD may benefit from symptom-focused palliative care services due to the high burden of severe symptoms including anorexia, pruritus, dyspnea and depression,” said lead author Yumeng Wen, MD, resident physician of nephrology at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West. “Poor knowledge of palliative care options has been reported by a majority of patients on dialysis and patients often continue dialysis until acute medical complications occur. Minority patients in particular are less likely to discontinue dialysis or pursue hospice care. Studies have shown significant racial and ethnic disparities in the end-of-life care received by dialysis patients with ESKD in the United States, but little is known about disparity in the palliative care services received by such patients in the inpatient setting.”

— Yumeng Wen, MD, Resident Physician, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s, Mount Sinai West

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