In 2002, three of the ten leading causes of death differed between blacks and whites in the US, reflecting disparities in health care, according researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Homicide, HIV infection, and bloodstream infections were the 6th, 8th, and 10th leading causes of death, for blacks, whereas influenza/pneumonia, Alzheimer’s disease, and suicide were the 6th, 7th, and 10th leading causes for whites.

In both groups, the top cause of death was heart disease, followed by cancer and stroke. Moreover, the groups also shared diabetes, chronic lower respiratory disease, unintentional injury, and kidney failure as leading causes.

The report cites insufficient resources and unequal use of effective interventions as a primary cause of the racial gap identified. “Eliminating these disparities will require culturally appropriate public health initiatives, community support, and equitable access to quality healthcare,” write in this week’s issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

In related reports, CDC investigators examine racial differences in stroke outcomes and in rates of high blood pressure.

In a survey of 1391 stroke survivors, African Americans were significantly more likely than their white counterparts to report limitations in all activities. For instance, extreme difficulty walking 10 steps without rest was reported by 42 percent of blacks, but just 29 percent of whites. Also, 50 percent of black respondents, but only 36 percent of white subjects, reported using special equipment for daily functioning.

“To meet national health objectives of increasing quality and years of healthy life and eliminating health disparities, greater efforts are needed to implement prevention and intervention activities for stroke among black populations, particularly among young to middle-aged adults,” the report notes.

Meanwhile, results from surveys conducted between 1999 and 2002 indicate that although some progress has been made, racial differences still exist in the prevalence, treatment, and control of high blood pressure.

The prevalence of hypertension for blacks was 41 percent, while rates for whites and Mexican Americans hovered around 26 percent. Although blacks were more likely to be aware of their condition than whites, the percentage with controlled hypertension was the same, at 30 percent.

“To reduce disparities and improve high blood pressure prevention and control among US adults, public health officials and clinicians need to increase their efforts to treat and control blood pressure levels among persons with hypertension, and promote physical activity, nutrition changes, weight reduction or management, stress reduction, and routine blood pressure screening,” the CDC states.

SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, January 14, 2005.