title: African American Race Is Associated With Poorer Outcomes in Heart Failure Patients.
abstract: Health care disparities associated with African American race may influence event-free survival in patients with heart failure (HF). A secondary data analysis included 863 outpatients enrolled in a multicenter HF registry. Cox regression was used to determine whether African American race was associated with shorter HF event-free survival after controlling for covariates. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals [CI]) of older age (1.03, 95% CI = [1.01, 1.04]), New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class (1.73, 95% CI = [1.29, 2.31]), depressive symptoms (1.05, 95% CI = [1.02, 1.07]), and African American race (1.64, 95% CI = [1.01, 2.68]) were predictors of shorter event-free survival (all ps < .05). Comparisons showed that NYHA functional class was predictive of shorter event-free survival in Caucasians (1.81, 95% CI = [1.33, 2.46]) but not in African Americans (1.24, 95% CI = [.40, 3.81]). African Americans with HF experienced a disparate risk of shorter event-free survival not explained by a variety of risk factors.
authors.affiliation: 1 Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Wierenga
authors.affiliation: 2 University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.affiliation: 2 University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Terry A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Lennie
authors.affiliation: 2 University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
authors.forename: Misook L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: 3 University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dracup
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000208:ethnology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: health disparities; heart failure; race