title: Ethnic differences in 1-year mortality among patients hospitalised with heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The incidence of cardiovascular disease and the prevalence of risk factors have been shown to differ significantly across ethnic groups. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of ethnicity on 1-year mortality among patients with heart failure in a single payer healthcare system with universal access.
  
  
  METHODS
  Alberta residents aged 20 years or older hospitalised with heart failure between 1 April 1999 and 31 December 2005 are included. Previously validated algorithms were used to assign ethnicity based on patient surname. Patients were categorised as white, Chinese or East Indian.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-year mortality after adjusting for baseline differences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  52 980 white, 851 Chinese, and 377 East Indian individuals were hospitalised with heart failure. Chinese patients were the oldest and had the highest rates of renal disease. East Indian patients were the youngest and had the highest rates of ischaemic heart disease and diabetes. One-year mortality rates were 31.0% among white patients, 38.7% among Chinese and 26.5% among East Indian patients (p<0.01). Adjusted HR (and 95% CI) for 1-year mortality among Chinese compared with white patients was 1.34 (1.20 to 1.49) and among East Indian compared with white patients it was 1.04 (0.85 to 1.27). These findings were consistent across various subgroups, including patients with incident heart failure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ethnicity appears to modulate patient outcomes in heart failure. Chinese patients have significantly higher 1-year mortality rates compared with white patients; there appear to be no differences in mortality among East Indian and white patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. pkaul@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Padma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.forename: Finlay A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: McAlister
authors.forename: Justin A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ezekowitz
authors.forename: Vaneeta Kaur
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.forename: Hude
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Quan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006295:Health Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents