Racial Disparities in Access to Robot-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty
Author Information
Author(s): Schmerler Jessica, Bergstein Victoria E., Kagabo Whitney, Khanuja Harpal S., Oni Julius K., Hegde Vishal
Primary Institution: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Hypothesis
The utilization of robot-assisted total knee arthroplasty (RA-TKA) would be lower among minority populations compared to white patients.
Conclusion
Non-white race is associated with a significantly lower likelihood of undergoing RA-TKA relative to conventional TKA.
Supporting Evidence
- Of the 47,898 patients who underwent TKA in 2022, 8,560 (17.9%) underwent RA-TKA.
- Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other races were significantly less likely than white patients to undergo RA-TKA.
- Disparities in access to RA-TKA may reflect broader issues in access to emerging technologies in healthcare.
Takeaway
This study found that people from minority backgrounds are less likely to get robot-assisted knee surgery compared to white people, which is not fair.
Methodology
Patients who underwent TKA in 2022 were identified from the NSQIP database and analyzed using multivariable logistic regression to assess the impact of race/ethnicity on the likelihood of undergoing RA-TKA.
Potential Biases
Potential biases may arise from the NSQIP database's limitations and the retrospective nature of the study.
Limitations
The study is retrospective and cannot establish causation; it relies on data that may have entry errors and lacks certain variables like socioeconomic status.
Participant Demographics
The average age of participants was 67.6 years, with 60.8% being women.
Statistical Information
P-Value
<0.001
Confidence Interval
95% CI 0.59–0.70 for Black patients; 95% CI 0.64–0.77 for Hispanic patients; 95% CI 0.55–0.76 for Asian patients; 95% CI 0.66–0.92 for other races.
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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