Race/Ethnicity and Duration of Anesthesia for Pediatric Patients in the US: a Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Previous literature has demonstrated adverse patient outcomes associated with racial/ethnic disparities in health services. Because patients/parents and providers care about the duration of anesthesia, this study focuses on this outcome. Objectives To determine the association between race/ethnicity and duration under anesthesia. Research Design In this retrospective cohort study of data from the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group, White non-Latino was the reference and was compared with Black non-Latino children, Latino, Asian, Native American, Other, and "Unknown" race children. Subjects Children aged 3 to 17 years. Outcomes Induction duration (primary outcome), procedure-end duration, and total duration under anesthesia (secondary outcomes). Results Of 37,596 eligible cases, 9,610 cases with complete data were analyzed. The sample consisted of 6,894 White non-Latino patients, 1,021 Black non-Latino patients, 50 Latino patients, 287 Asian patients, 26 Native American patients, 57 "Other" race patients, and 1,275 patients of "Unknown" race. The mean induction time was 11.9 min (SD 5.6 min). In adjusted analysis, Black non-Latino patients had 5% longer induction and procedure-end durations than White non-Latino children (exponentiated beta coefficient [Exp (beta)] 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02-1.08, p < 0.01 and Exp (beta) 1.08, 95% CI 1.04-1.13, p < 0.01 respectively). Conclusions White non-Latino children had shorter induction and procedure-end durations than Black children. The differences in induction and procedure-end time were small but may be meaningful on a population-health level.