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+--- Thread: Research More rural, minoritized people get amputations – AI gets closer to why (/thread-18348.html)
More rural, minoritized people get amputations – AI gets closer to why - C C - Jul 9, 2025
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1090502
INTRO: Why do rural adults and racial and ethnic minorities with vascular disease get major leg amputations more often? A new study out today in Epidemiology uses AI to solve the mystery, finding an unaccounted-for factor that researchers think points to implicit bias in the clinical decision-making process.
“The AI model allowed us to distinguish among the many reasons behind these much higher rates of amputation among certain groups of people with vascular disease,” said Paula Strassle, lead author and assistant professor of epidemiology at UMD’s School of Public Health. “We found that, after accounting for everything else, people’s unconscious biases are likely behind why some groups receive amputation instead of alternative treatment that preserves their limb.”
“We hope our results will be a catalyst to create evidence-based guidelines that help vascular surgeons and other providers who make this life-changing decision do so objectively.”
More than 12 million adults in the US live with a vascular disease called Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), a chronic circulation condition that restricts blood flow to the limbs. It results in leg pain, numbness and in severe cases, limb loss. About 10% of people with PAD develop Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia (CLTI) at which point either they receive a procedure to restore blood flow to their lower leg or their limb must be amputated. Revascularization is a surgical procedure that can save the limb, but it also requires intensive follow-up and is a relatively expensive surgical procedure. Vascular surgeons are also in short supply.
After accounting for known differences in clinical presentation, the study found higher rates of amputation among Black, Hispanic, Native American, and white people in rural areas as well as among Black and Native American people in urban areas. After further accounting for differences in hospital and neighborhood resources, higher amputation rates persisted among Black, Hispanic, and Native American people in rural areas, and Black and Native American people in urban areas.
“We found a substantial unexplained portion that would suggest an implicit bias in clinical decision-making occurring at the physician and hospital level,” Strassle said... (MORE - details, no ads)
RE: More rural, minoritized people get amputations – AI gets closer to why - Syne - Jul 9, 2025
I don't see any mention of accounting for economic class or level of healthcare coverage. I'm not sure, but cost could be a factor, whether without health insurance or with a rationing or coverage-denying provider.