Why are African-Americans with dysphagia post-stroke having higher rates of PEG placement?

Abstract

Throughout the history of this country, systemic issues have trickled into certain communities impacting them severely. Whether this be with environmental threats, poverty, inadequate access to quality health care, educational inequality, or lack of employment opportunities. All these problems have been deeply programmed into society and our institutions. They have been beneficial for some groups, but detrimental for others. One group of people who have been harmed by these systemic inequalities, are African Americans. This thesis will explore these disparities as it relates to African-American stroke survivors with dysphagia, specifically the higher occurrences of percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy tube (PEG) placement in this community. With a review of various literature, four factors were examined as possible contributing variables: residential segregation, insurance, implicit bias, and severity of stroke.