Racial disparities in sudden cardiac death rates cannot be explained by known risk factors
While it’s well reported that black patients are twice as likely as white patients to succumb to sudden cardiac death (SCD), the underlying factors that propel this disparity remain unknown. According to a first-of-its-kind study from Penn Medicine, published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers showed that even after controlling for risk factors like income, education, smoking, exercise, and bad cholesterol, among others, black patients remained at a significantly higher risk for SCD.
“While greater public health efforts to identify and decrease health risks in black populations will be a critical step in reducing their higher risk of SCD, our data suggest that it may not eliminate racial disparities entirely,” says lead author Rajat Deo,an associate professor of cardiovascular medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine. “Our research demonstrates other factors, perhaps genetic, are at play, and we need more exploration to better understand this disparity.”
Each year in the United States, there are more than 350,000 out-of-hospital SCDs—the immediate cessation of the heart’s ability to function properly. SCD occurs unexpectedly, with little to no warning signs or symptoms, and it strikes most commonly among those in the general population without a history of cardiovascular disease. Past studies have consistently shown black patients have a higher incidence of SCD compared to white patients, but this study marked the first rigorous, prospective population-based analysis adjusting for risk factors.
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