Black Americans Are Still More Likely to Die Early Than Their White Peers

Oct 3, 2024 Story by: Editor

A recent study reveals that while mortality rates for certain causes of death have decreased for Black Americans, the gap between Black and white individuals persists and, for some causes, is growing. Researchers analyzed death-certificate data from 1999 to 2020, gathered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , to compare mortality rates between Black and white individuals. The study also took into account the impact of COVID-19 during the pandemic.

The findings, published in JAMA Network Open , show that on average, 1.49 more Black females and 2.84 more Black males per 1,000 people died during the study period than white females and males.

Heart Disease and Cancer Deaths Decrease, but Fatalities from Assaults, Accidents, and Suicide Rise

The study paints a mixed picture of progress and challenges. For Black females, mortality rates dropped by an average of 5.7% per year until 2015, thanks to improvements in heart disease, diabetes, cancer, accidents, and stroke. However, after 2015, these gains stagnated, and deaths spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2020.

Similarly, for Black males, mortality rates decreased by 5.2% annually until 2011 , driven by reductions in deaths from cancer, heart disease, accidents, and HIV. But, like with Black females, these gains plateaued, and excess deaths surged with the onset of COVID-19.

Starting in 2012 for Black males and in 2016 for Black females, racial disparities in mortality rates from accidents, heart disease, stroke, and assaults began to widen. Although the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these disparities, the underlying issues existed well before the pandemic, says Adith Arun, lead author of the study from Yale School of Medicine.

“Racial disparities for external causes of death — assaults, accidents, suicide — have increased significantly in recent years,” Arun explains. “A number of factors likely contributed, such as easier access to firearms, political division, housing and food insecurity, inflation, rising healthcare costs, and overall unaffordability of daily living.”

Study Limitations

One limitation of the study is that death certificates often contain incomplete or inaccurate details about causes of death and demographic information. Additionally, the study only focused on the widening or narrowing of the mortality rate gap between Black and white individuals. It didn’t explore whether a reduced gap was due to improvements for Black people or declines for white individuals.

For instance, high blood pressure, a significant risk factor for heart disease and stroke, remains more prevalent in Black populations. As George Howard , DrPH, a public health professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham , who was not involved in the study, notes, suboptimal treatment for high blood pressure among Black individuals contributes to ongoing disparities.

“The Black-white difference could be reduced by better treatment from physicians to control blood pressure, particularly in the Black population,” Howard states. “This is critical; however, it doesn’t change the fact that the prevalence of high blood pressure is higher among Black individuals.”

Reducing the Risk of Premature Death

Arun suggests that everyone, regardless of race, can take steps to reduce their risk of premature death from many of the causes examined in the study.

“I recommend that people ask questions about their health, seek care from healthcare providers who listen to them, and engage in preventative practices like resistance training, eating fresh vegetables and proteins, walking, and getting eight-plus hours of sleep,” Arun advises. Source: Everyday Health