Racial Disparities in Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients… : JCR: Journal of Clinical Rheumatology
erent skin tones. Methods Patients from Montefiore Medical Center who met the criteria for DM and ADM were included in this cohort study. Records were reviewed for date of first documented rash, creatine kinase levels, muscle weakness complaints, and date of first steroid or disease-modifying antirheumatic drug initiation. The median number of days between rash documentation and therapy initiation was compared for patients of different races, including non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and other (Asian and unknown). Data were compared in White versus non-White skin. Results Sixty-three DM and 9 ADM patients met the inclusion criteria. There was a shorter time to treatment initiation in White versus non-White patients, with a median number of 8 days compared with 21 days, respectively (p = 0.05). Kaplan-Meier curves showed prolonged time to diagnosis and treatment in all other races when compared with White patients (p = 0.03). Discussion It took clinicians longer to dia