Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate racial inequities in the use of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) and outcomes in infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

STUDY DESIGN: We queried an administrative birth cohort of mother-baby pairs in California from 2010 through 2019 using ICD codes to evaluate the association between race and ethnicity and the application of TH in infants with HIE. We identified 4,779 infants with HIE. Log-linear regression was used to calculate risk ratios (RR) for TH, adjusting for hospital transfer, rural location, gestational age between 35 and 37 weeks, and HIE severity. Risk of adverse infant outcome was calculated by race and ethnicity and stratified by TH.

RESULTS: From our identified cohort, 1338 (28.0%) neonates underwent TH. White infants were used as the reference sample and 410 (28.4%) received TH. Black infants were significantly less likely to receive TH with 74 (20.0%) with an adjusted risk ratio (aRR) of 0.7 (95% confidence interval 0.5 to 0.9). Black infants with any HIE who did not receive TH were more likely to have a hospital readmission (aRR 1.36, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.68) and a tracheostomy (aRR 3.07, 95% CI 1.19 to 7.97). Black infants with moderate/severe HIE who did not receive TH were more likely to have cerebral palsy (aRR 2.72, 95% CI 1.07 to 6.91).

CONCLUSIONS: In this study cohort, Black infants with HIE were significantly less likely to receive TH. Black infants also had significantly increased risk of some adverse outcomes of HIE. Possible reasons for this inequity include systemic barriers to care and systemic bias.