Eight Threats to Black Adult's Longevity

There is a significant disparity in premature death rates between Black and White adults in the United States can be entirely attributed to differences in eight key aspects of life that significantly impact health and well-being. These factors, known as social determinants of health, include employment, income, food security, education level, access to healthcare, quality health insurance, home ownership, and marital status (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Social determinants of health and premature death among adults in the USA from 1999 to 2018: a national cohort study

Go to source).

Cracking the Code: Explaining the 59% Mortality Gap Between Black and White Adults

By analyzing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a CDC survey that assesses disease prevalence and risks nationwide, researchers from Tulane University were able to model the influence of each determinant on an individual's life expectancy. Remarkably, when accounting for all adverse social determinants, the previously observed 59% mortality disparity between Black and White adults was effectively eliminated.

“It totally disappeared,” said Josh Bundy, lead author and epidemiologist at Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. “There’s no difference between Black and White premature mortality rates after accounting for these social determinants.”

While the mortality gap has been largely pinned on socioeconomic factors such as education level, income, and employment status in recent years, researchers have acknowledged that these factors only explained most of the gap, Bundy said.

“This is the first time that anyone completely explained the differences,” Bundy said. “We didn’t expect that, and we were excited about that finding because it suggests social determinants should be the primary targets for eliminating health disparities.”

Socio-Economic Factor Becomes a Leading Threat

Socioeconomic factors were still found to play a major role, accounting for approximately 50% of the Black-White difference in mortality in the study. However, the other nearly 50% of the difference was explained by marital status, food security, and whether someone has public or private health insurance, softer indicators that can speak to a person’s social support network, stability or job quality.

Unfavorable social determinants of health were more common among Black adults and were found to carry enormous risks.

Advertisement

Having just one unfavorable social determinant of health was found to double a person’s chances of early death. With six or more, a person has eight times higher risk of premature mortality.

Jiang He, the corresponding author and Joseph S. Copes Chair of Epidemiology the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, said these results “demonstrated that race-based health disparities are social, not biological, constructs.”

Advertisement

Bundy agreed, adding that the findings explain how “structural racism and discrimination lead to worse social risk factors, which may lead to premature death.”

“So how do we eliminate the structural differences between races?” Bundy said. “And regardless of race, if you have six or more of these factors, you’re at a really high risk. How do we address these issues for everyone?”

As a concept, social determinants of health are a relatively new framework being emphasized by the CDC’s Healthy People 2030 initiative.

Going forward, Bundy hopes the concept gains more traction and that policymakers use these findings to address the race-based mortality gap.

“These social determinants of health are the foundation of health problems,” Bundy said. “They need to be a top priority going forward and it’s going to take policy, research and a multi-disciplinary approach to tackle these issues.”

Reference:

1. Gut Microbiota Profiles in Early- and Late-Onset Colorectal Cancer: A Potential Diagnostic Biomarker in the Future - (https://karger.com/dig/article/102/6/823/828006/Gut-Microbiota-Profiles-in-Early-and-Late-Onset)

Source-Eurekalert