NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- White heart attack victims in the United States receive faster emergency treatment than blacks and Hispanics, a Yale University study published Wednesday said.
The study of approximately 110,000 heart attack patients treated in more than 1,000 hospitals across the country revealed that Hispanic or black patients have a 10 to 20 percent longer time in getting the proper emergency treatment for restoring blood flow to the heart.
"The findings suggest that we may have dual systems of care, in which many minority patients are less likely to receive treatment in the higher quality hospitals," said Harlan Krumholz, professor of medicine at Yale and senior author of the study.
Further, the study suggested longer treatment times among racial and ethnic minority groups are due in large part to the quality of the hospitals in which they are treated.
"We also need to focus on elevating the quality of care overall and particularly in those hospitals where many minority patients receive care," said Elizabeth Bradley, associate professor in Yale's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health.
The report was published in the Oct. 6 Journal of the American Medical Association.
