Heart attack outcomes worse among blacks

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African American patients fare worse following a heart attack than do Caucasian patients, and it’s not for any genetic reason or because of any great differences in treatment, new research indicates.

Individual characteristics—including the presence of other illnesses and socioeconomic factors—are the underlying cause of the difference in outcomes.

Those findings come from Dr. John A. Spertus, at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, and co-investigators. They analyzed data from a registry of 1849 patients who survived a heart attack; 28 percent were African American.

According to the team’s report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, significantly more black patients than white patients died within two years—19.9 percent vs 9.3 percent. 

Also, rates of sever chest pain were higher among blacks than whites (28.0 percent vs 17.8 percent), and their quality of life scores were worse.

In general, the investigators report, most of the differences in outcome between black and white patients were explained by “patient characteristics present before admission.”

For example, black patients had significantly higher rates of diabetes, chronic heart failure and kidney failure, and High Blood Pressure. Indicators of socioeconomic status, such as health insurance coverage and income, were lower, and they were also less likely to be married.

There was some indication that the greater mortality among black patients was related to hospital quality. Furthermore, white patients were more likely to undergo a procedure to unblock clogged coronary arteries.

Still, “no single omission in the care offered black patients would, if overcome, eradicate the crude differences in observed outcomes,” the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, March 3, 2009.

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As someone who had studied human behavior it is imperative that all research done on subjects such as any and all research done only two ethnic groupings - black/afro-american vs. white/caucasian. Reviewing various diseases which strongly suggest that only afro-americans suffer from every disease known to the human race. In order to provide validated proof that such idealogy truly exist that afro-american suffer more than any other ethnic groups, one must provide how the statistical information is based on economical background, educational level, cultural upbringing, gender (height, weight, sexual preference), non vs.disability, etc. For researchers to be truly honest since the subjects signing such claims as “You have a rare disease and we would like to do a study” just to get someone to sign a contract to do pharmaceutical research. It is understandable that services such as: bothe state and federal governement, social services and drug companies acknowldge that researchers do not have to be honest in order to be provided such information. One must acknowledge that population in the United States and UK have mixed ethnic groupings. The world is not just and only will always be black and white. On one site someone is trying to come up with a drug only for a specific ethnic group. Would this help? No, absolutely not becuase of the personal views of researchers, medical personnel that look at the outline of an individual and not take into strict consideration of the indiviudal who could possibly be of mixed heritage. This can be dangerous to all who are not purely afro-american or purely caucasian. There is only one race - Human, while there are many ethnicity.

posted by naneki on 10/21/2010 at 9:34 am -08:00