In the Black population in the U.S., there were more than 1.63 million excess deaths, with heart disease the major contributor, and 80 million excess years of life lost from 1999 to 2011, according to a study published in JAMA.

César Caraballo, MD, Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, FACC, et al., conducted a cross-sectional study using data from non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black populations across all age groups collected from 1999 through 2020 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine trends in excess mortality and years of potential life lost.

After a decline in age-adjusted excess mortality in Blacks from 1999 to 2011, from 404 to 211 per 100,000 individuals for Black men and from 224 to 87 per 100,000 individuals for Black women, rates plateaued and then started to rise again in 2020, to 395 per 100,000 individuals for Black men and 192 per 100,000 individuals for Black women. This resulted in 997,623 excess deaths in Black men and 628,464 excess deaths in Black women.

The authors write that their “findings demonstrate the potential for progress but indicate the fragility of the gains and herald a need for new approaches to ensure sustainability of advancements.”

They note a “sobering disparity” in infants and during childhood for a “markedly elevated” number of excess deaths that was even more pronounced for years of potential life lost. Early adulthood was another period when the disparities became evident and they generally increased with age.

While specific causes and drivers of these differences are multifactorial and warrant further study, “the sheer scale of the difference requires a revisiting of our national approach to combatting disparities.” They also state that an annual publicly reported metric of race-based years of potential life lost may be useful for national accountability and to drive research and implementation of effective strategies to address the disparities.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team

Keywords: Social Responsibility, Heart Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.

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