U.S. counties heavily populated by Hispanics see higher rates of cardiovascular death than more diverse communities, according to a Journal of the American Heart Association report—a phenomenon that’s likely owed to a combination of language barriers, economic disadvantages and lack of access to quality healthcare.
The findings of the study, published in JAHA Sept. 19 and led by Stanford University cardiologist Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH, apply to both Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites, according to a release. The results remained solid even after adjusting for sociodemographic and healthcare factors.
Rodriguez said her team analyzed data from 4,769,040 death records—including 382,416 Hispanics—for their research. Patients hailed from 715 U.S. counties, with the densest Hispanic populations concentrated in the Southwest, South Florida and parts of the Northeast.
Compared with counties that had the lowest Hispanic populations, those with the highest saw 60 percent more Hispanic deaths from CVD and were more likely to be lower-income and house uneducated families living below the poverty line. Hispanic-heavy communities also had increased rates of uninsured patients and fewer primary care physicians.
Rodriguez said that initially, on a broader scale, she and her colleagues’ data suggested lower rates of CVD death in Hispanics, since their rate of 189 heart deaths per 100,000 residents was significantly lower than that of the non-Hispanic white population, which saw a rate of 245 CVD deaths per 100,000 population. On the county level, though, the results were clearer and indicated a higher likelihood of death from heart disease among Hispanics and non-white Hispanics alike in more heavily populated Hispanic areas.
“The finding that Hispanic population density is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality is noteworthy and challenges existing notions about the protective effect of cultural enclaves among Hispanics, or what’s known as the ‘Hispanic paradox,’” Rodriguez said in the release.
She said future studies should dissect subgroups within the Hispanic population and see how rates of CVD and heart disease-related mortality vary across smaller communities.
“Clinical and public health efforts should target cardiovascular disease prevention in counties where Hispanics live, design interventions outside of healthcare settings and focus on improving neighborhood access to healthy food sources and physical activity,” she said.
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.