OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate differences in healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) among patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in different racial/ethnic groups.

METHODS: A retrospective evaluation of the electronic health records (EHRs) was performed on patients with a diagnosis of ALS identified using ICD-10 code G12.21. Patients included had a recorded diagnosis between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2023. Observation period was between January 1, 2013 and November 30, 2023. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the average number of emergency department (ED), hospital, and outpatient office visits per month, and average hospital length of stay (LOS).

RESULTS: Among the 1,112 patients analyzed, 891 (80.1%) were non-Hispanic White, 102 (9.2%) Hispanic, 91 (8.2%) non-Hispanic Black, and 28 (2.5%) Asian. Mean age of diagnosis was 64.2 (SD=12.8), 504 (45.3%) were female, 768 (69.1%) patients had remained alive during the study period, 133 (12.0%) had tracheostomy, 8 (0.72%) had non-invasive ventilator, and 189 (17.0%) had a feeding tube. In terms of ALS medication use, 202 (18.2%) patients were prescribed riluzole, 66 (5.9%) dextromethorphan HBr/quinidine sulfate, 24 (2.2%) edaravone, and 11 (1.0%) sodium phenylbutyrate/taurursodiol. Compared to non-Hispanic White patients (mean=0.11, SD=0.55), non-Hispanic Black (β=0.22, p=0.006) and Hispanic patients (β=0.15, p=0.041) had statistically significantly higher average ED visits per month. No differences were found in average hospital and office visits among the racial/ethnic groups. For hospital admissions, the average LOS was statistically significantly higher in Hispanic patients compared to non-Hispanic White patients (β=4.48, p=0.026). Patients who received tracheotomy had higher number of ED (β=0.22, p=0.002) and hospital visits (β=0.19, p=0.032) per month, and longer average hospital LOS (β=7.34, p<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS: Racial/ethnic differences exist in HCRU, with non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients having higher average number of ED visits per month and Hispanic patients having higher average hospital LOS.