Racial and ethnic disparities in discharge to rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury

Adult Hispanic and black patients with TBI are significantly less likely to receive intensive rehabilitation than their non-Hispanic white counterparts; notably, this difference persists in the Medicare population (age ≥ 65 years), indicating that uniform insurance coverage alone does not account for the disparity. Given that insurance coverage and a wide range of prehospital characteristics do not eliminate racial disparities in discharge destination, it is crucial that additional unmeasured patient, physician, and institutional factors be explored to eliminate them.