Heart Disease and African Americans

African American adults are less likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease, however they are more likely to die from heart disease. Although African American adults are 40% more likely to have high blood pressure, they are 10% less likely than their non-Hispanic White counterparts to have their blood pressure under control.

In 2005, African American men were 30% more likely to die from heart disease, as compared to non-Hispanic white men.
African Americans were 1.4 times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have high blood pressure.
African American women were 1.7 times as likely as non-Hispanic white women to be obese.

At a glance – Diagnosed Cases of Coronary Heart Disease:

**Age-adjusted percentages of coronary heart disease among persons 18 years of age and over, 2006**
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
6.1	6.6	0.9

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf

At a glance – Death Rate:

**Age-Adjusted Heart Disease Death Rates per 100,000 (2005)**
	African American	Non-Hispanic White	African American/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
Men	329.8	262.2	1.3
Women	228.3	170.3	1.3

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 36.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

At a Glance – Risk Factors:

Overweight

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 20 years of age and over who are overweight or obese, 2001-2004. (Persons are considered overweight if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or greater.) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
Men	67.0	71.0	0.9
Women	79.6	57.6	1.4

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 74.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are overweight but not obese, 2006. (Persons are considered overweight if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or greater.) National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
33.7	34.5	1.0

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 31.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf

Obesity

Age-adjusted percentage of overweight persons 20 years of age and over who are obese, 2001-2004. (Persons are considered obese if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater.) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	30.7	30.5	1.0
Women	51.1	31.2	1.6

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 74.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are obese, 2006. (Persons are considered obese if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater.) National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
35.3	24.7	1.4

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 31.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf

Hypertension

**Age-adjusted percentage of persons 20 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2001-2004. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)**
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
Men	27.8	17.1	1.6
Women	26.9	17.9	1.5

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 70.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

**Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2006. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)**
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black /Non-Hispanic White Ratio
31.6	22.4	1.4

Source: CDC 2007. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2006. Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_235.pdf

**Percent of adults age 18 and over with hypertension whose blood pressure is under control, 1999-2004**
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
29.2	33.1	0.9

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 59.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

High Cholesterol

**Age-adjusted percentage of persons 20 years of age and over who have high cholesterol, 2001-2004.**
	African American	Non-Hispanic White	African American/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
Men	14.2	16.0	0.9
Women	14.8	17.4	0.9

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 71.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

Cigarette Smoking

**Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are current cigarette smokers, 2004-2006.**
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	25.5	24.3	1.0
Women	17.6	20.9	0.8

Source: CDC, 2008. Health United States, 2007. Table 65.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

**Percentage of current smokers age 18 and over with a checkup who reported receiving advice to quit smoking, 2004**
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
62.5	64.8	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Quality Report. Table 1.41a.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr07/index.html

**Percentage of heart attack patients given smoking cessation counseling while hospitalized, 2005**
African Americans	White	African Americans/ White Ratio
89.0	92.8	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 1.48a.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

At a Glance – Treatment:

Aspirin Therapy

**Percent of heart attack patients administered aspirin within 24 hours of admission, 2005**
African Americans	White	African Americans/ White Ratio
94.5	95.3	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 43.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

**Percent of heart attack patients with aspirin prescribed at discharge, 2005**
African Americans	White	African Americans/ White Ratio
93.8	95.8	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 44.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

Beta Blockers

**Percent of heart attack patients administered beta blocker within 24 hours of admission, 2005**
African Americans	White	African Americans/ White Ratio
91.1	91.8	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 45.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

**Percent of heart attack patients with beta blocker prescribed at discharge, 2005**
African Americans	White	African Americans/ White Ratio
93.7	94.8	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 46.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

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Content Last Modified: 6/27/2008 2:30:00 PM