Relationship between Race and the Effect of Fluids on Long-term Mortality after Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Because long-term follow-up was not available on all subjects, we used a multistate model to estimate the overall 1-year mortality for each of the four race/fluid groups, using the Markovian assumption that the probability of going to a future state depends only on the present state and not the history (8). [...]black" is a complex sociobiology construct such that identification as "black" may be a surrogate for variables associated with socioeconomic status, comorbid disease, severity of illness, or geographical location. [...]we adjusted for center and matched by the propensity to be black, where our propensity model attempted to capture many elements that may be collinear with self-identified race. [...]we cannot ascribe causation to merely biologic or social factors but, rather, need an integrated biosocial approach to understanding ARDS disparities. [...]although an analysis of treatment interaction with race was included in the original trial, the original trial was not powered to include longer-term follow-up.