Racial disparity in healthcare utilization among patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: results from a multicenter cohort

Background Racial disparity in healthcare is defined as differences in healthcare services received by racial groups not due to difference in needs or preferences. As irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is highly correlated with social factors, healthcare disparities are important factors in the sociocultural model of IBS. We used healthcare utilization as a lens to examine potential racial disparities in IBS. Methods We retrospectively matched 3823 IBS minority patients who self-identified as "Hispanic," "Black," or "Asian" to white IBS controls and examined the number of patients with gastroenterology consults, gastroenterology procedures, and IBS-related Primary Care visits within each cohort from 2003 to 2017. Key results Minority IBS patients were less likely to receive a gastroenterology consult than white IBS controls. Both Black and Asian IBS patients were more likely to have an IBS-related Primary Care visit than white IBS controls. All 3 minority IBS cohorts received significantly more gastroenterology procedures compared to white IBS controls. Conclusions & inferences Minority IBS patients are more likely to receive gastroenterology procedures than white IBS patients. Further studies are needed to determine whether increased procedure likelihood in minority IBS patients represents a communication gap between minority patients and their providers or patient preference.