Study Points to Systemic Racial Bias in Pediatric Emergency Care

A recent investigation featured in Cureus examined pediatric emergency department visits over the past two decades. The research highlights that Black children demonstrate a significantly greater inclination to seek emergency medical services compared to peers from varied racial and ethnic backgrounds. Drawing from data in the National Health Interview Survey, the study focused on individuals younger than 18 who utilized emergency care at least once between 1997 and 2019. Findings indicated that visitation rates for Black children were markedly high, starting at 24 percent in 1997, peaking at 27.9 percent in 2002, before declining to 22.9 percent by 2019. This trend reveals deep-seated disparities in healthcare access and raises essential questions about the systemic factors influencing how young individuals pursue medical attention.