Do racial minority patients in the United States have similar patient outcomes to majority (white) patients regarding inpatient rehabilitation?

Background: As the emphasis on patient-centered care and the use of the biopsychosocial model increases in the field of physical therapy, it is crucial for practitioners to have an understanding of the impact of social determinants on patient outcomes. Evidence of racial/ethnic disparities in health have been shown to exist across disciplines, but little synthesis of data has been done in rehabilitation services to understand disparities among patients in these settings. Purpose: To explore how physical therapy and rehabilitation medicine is affected by existing trends between race and health disparities. This systematic review will investigate the current understanding of the effects that race has on population health status and outcomes with regard to inpatient rehabilitation. Data Sources: Databases accessed included OVID Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, ERIC, and psycINFO. Data Extraction: A list of 17 pertinent observational studies was created according to specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. These articles were critically reviewed for quality according to the CEBM “Levels of Evidence” and STROBE checklists. Synthesis of the data utilized 12 parameters to categorize essential study characteristics highlighting the roots of racial disparities in patient outcomes