NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: health, patient care, ethnicity

Objective(s): To determine if Dene and Inuit ethnicity is a factor in receiving analgesia for long bone fracture in a rural Emergency Department.

Project Description: The intent of the study is to determine if Dene and Inuit ethnicity is a factor in receiving analgesia for long bone fracture in a rural Emergency Department. This study is a retrospective chart review that will examine patients between the ages of 18 and 75 who presented to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife between January 2005 and January 2008 with isolated long bone fractures identified by ICD 10 codes S42, S52, S72 and S82. Patients will be excluded if they presented more than 8 hours after their fracture, had an altered mental status, were intoxicated or their fractures were reported as “chip” or “possible” fracture” on their chart. The ethnicity and analgesia will be recorded for each patient. The data will be tabulated and then analysed by a biostatistician at the Institute of Circumpolar Health research. A relative risk of not receiving analgesia for long bone fracture based on ethnicity will then be calculated. The collected data will be stored in a secure database at the Institute of Circumpolar Health Research in Yellowknife. The database will be password protected and accessible only to the research team. All published materials will omit any references that could identify an individual. If this study shows that health care disparities exist between patients of different ethnic backgrounds then educational interventions can be developed to help diminish these differences. The educational interventions will be developed by northern health professionals in cooperation with the Elders Council at Stanton hospital and will highlight the culturally specific ways in which patients understand and express their illnesses. The results will be presented at the International Circumpolar Health Conference in Fairbanks Alaska in 2011. A lecture will also be given at Stanton Territorial hospital which will then be made available to the public on the Institute of Circumpolar Health's website. The researcher hopes to publish the results in a scientific health journal such as the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 13, 2010 to December 31, 2010.