Short people got no reason: gender, height, and disparities in the management of acute lung injury
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* Corresponding author: Robert C Hyzy rhyzy@umich.edu
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Michigan, 3916 Taubman Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Critical Care 2011, 15:1010 doi:10.1186/cc10509
See related research by Han et al., http://ccforum.com/content/15/6/R262
Published: 28 November 2011Abstract
Though the benefits of lung protective ventilation (LPV) in acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) have been known for more than a decade, widespread clinical adoption has been slow. Han and colleagues demonstrate that women with ALI/ARDS are less likely than men to receive LPV, though this disparity resolves when the analysis is adjusted for patient height. This analysis identifies patient height as a significant factor in predicting provider adherence with LPV guidelines, and illuminates why some disparities in intensive care exist and how they may be resolved via improved utilization of evidence-driven protocols.