ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8357-5283

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA in Clinical Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Elizabeth Brondolo

Second Advisor

William Chaplin

Abstract

Every year the emergency department (ED) treats millions of patients who present with a diverse range of health issues. Emergency departments are responsible for a wide range of critical services, and the swiftness of patient care can result in various favorable or adverse outcomes. Research has identified sociodemographic disparities within the ED triage process, such as racial minorities being undertriaged compared to White patients for similar acute symptoms. The aim of this thesis is to determine if differences in predisposing sociodemographic factors are associated with differences in ESI assignment and time-to-ECG for patients presenting to the ED with a chief complaint of chest pain. The current study analyzed retrospective data from adult patients who presented to an urban safety net hospital between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022. The study examined 77,015 visits from 54,669 unique patients who presented to the emergency department. A mixed models regression analysis was conducted to examine the fixed effects of race/ethnicity, chest pain-related chief complaint, and their interaction on ESI level. Latino patients were least likely to receive urgent ESI scores for complaints of chest pain. No significant race differences were found for time to ECG for patients with chest pain chief complaint. Further investigation is required to understand the mechanisms explaining observed differences in ESI levels.

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