Study finds higher mortality for uninsured trauma patients

Patients hospitalized for trauma injuries may be more likely to die if they are uninsured, according to a study in the November Archives of Surgery. Researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School analyzed records for 687,091 adults admitted to more than 900 U.S. trauma centers between 2002 and 2006. The mortality rate for uninsured patients in the group was 5.7%, 1 percentage point higher than the overall mortality rate for the group. They said the exact cause of the higher mortality is unclear and call for further study.