Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40198068›Full record

ArticleJAMA network open2025

Health Care Practitioner Bias and Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Services Among Survivors of Violence.

Megan R Georges, Alexa Courtepatte, Alice Hibara, Jennifer Harris, Tanesha Beckford, David Wiley, Emma Weinberger, Rebecca Rudel, Elizabeth Dugan, Jonathan Jay and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JAMA network open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Megan R GeorgesViolence Intervention Advocacy Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Alexa CourtepatteViolence Intervention Advocacy Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Alice HibaraViolence Intervention Advocacy Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Jennifer HarrisViolence Intervention Advocacy Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Tanesha BeckfordDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Brigham, Boston.
David WileyDivision of Violence Prevention, Boston Public Health Commission, Boston, Massachusetts.
Emma WeinbergerDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Rebecca RudelSection of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.
Elizabeth DuganViolence Intervention Advocacy Program, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Jonathan JayDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Elizabeth C PinoDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Importance: Posthospital inpatient rehabilitation is essential for many patients with traumatic injuries. However, rehabilitation centers lack transparency and oversight in their admission practices and may be influenced by health care practitioner (HCP) use of stigmatizing language in patient medical records, leading to inequities in access to care. Objectives: To examine differences in admission to inpatient rehabilitation centers for patients hospitalized for violent penetrating (VP) injuries compared with motor vehicle crash (MVC) injuries. Design, Setting, and Participants: This mixed-methods retrospective qualitative study used data obtained from hospital records from 2015 to 2021. Data analysis occurred between July and December 2023. The study was performed at Boston Medical Center, an urban level I trauma center. The cohort included all patients hospitalized for VP or MVC injuries who were discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation center between 2015 and 2021. Exposures: Injury type, categorized as VP or MVC. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary quantitative outcome was a denial for admission to an inpatient rehabilitation center. Qualitative content analysis identified similarities and differences across injury types in the manifestations of predetermined stigmatizing language categories in patients' medical records. Results: Of 323 patients discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation center (median [IQR] age, 38 [25-59] years; 208 men [64.4%]; 29 Hispanic patients [9.0%], 118 non-Hispanic Black patients [36.5%], and 152 non-Hispanic White patients [47.1%]), 107 patients (33.1%) experienced at least 1 denial by a center before being placed (32 of 55 patients with VP injuries [58.2%] vs 75 of 268 patients with MVC injuries [28.0%]). Compared with patients with MVC injuries, patients with VP injuries had greater than 3 times the odds of experiencing a denial (odds ratio, 3.51; 95% CI, 1.93-6.48; P < .001). Medical records of patients with VP injuries had increased use of stigmatizing language that indicated culturally based or injury-related stereotyping, skepticism toward patient-reported symptoms, and heightened HCP-power dynamics contributing to unilateral decision-making. Conclusions and Relevance: In this mixed-methods qualitative study of hospital patients discharged to rehabilitation centers, significant disparities in denials for admission were observed among survivors of violence, who were disproportionally Black or Hispanic. Stigmatizing language found in medical records suggested that bias within the referral process may have contributed to these disparities. These findings underscore the need for reformed clinical documentation practices and enhanced oversight of rehabilitation referral processes to promote equitable access to care.

Indexed as

Health Services AccessibilityRehabilitation CentersSurvivorsViolenceWounds and InjuriesAccidents, TrafficAdultBostonFemaleHealthcare DisparitiesHumansInpatientsMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID40198068
PMCPMC11979725

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.