CHICAGO (Reuters) - In another sign of racial and economic disparities in the U.S. health care system, researchers said on Tuesday that minority children and those without private insurance are more likely to have a ruptured appendix.

The report from the Children's National Medical Center in Washington said Asian children had a 66 percent higher rupture rate and black children a 13 percent higher rate than comparable white youngsters.

Children without health insurance had a 36 percent increased likelihood of a rupture, and those with Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor, had a 48 percent higher chance than those with private health insurance.

When an inflamed appendix ruptures before it can be removed there can be infections and other complications after surgery.

The study published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association based its findings on a review of more than 24,000 appendectomies performed on U.S. children aged 5 to 17 between 1997 and 2002.

"What's most interesting about our findings is the disparity in care for minorities and children without health insurance or on Medicaid," said Kurt Newman, a senior author of the study.

The study did not explain why minority children were more likely than white children to have a ruptured appendix.

It said that all the disparities were likely associated with "prehospitalization" factors such as access to health care, quality of care and patient or physician education.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, October 27, 2004.

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