In a population-based study, black Americans experienced sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) roughly 6 years younger than white Americans, at age 61 vs. age 67.2, although outcomes were not significantly different.
Kyndaron Reinier, Ph.D., of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and her associates examined patient data from 2,144 sudden cardiac death patients (including 126 blacks and 1,262 whites) in the Portland, Ore., metropolitan area from 2002 to 2012.
SCA occurrence was more than doubled in black men and women (175 and 90/100,000, respectively), compared with white men and women (84 and 40/100,000), after adjustment for age.
Although both blacks and whites with SCA were equally likely to have a clinically recognized history of coronary artery disease, blacks with SCA had higher rates of prearrest clinical risk factors for coronary disease, including diabetes (52% vs. 33%), high blood pressure (77% vs. 65%), and chronic kidney failure (34% vs. 19%), than did whites. All differences were statistically significant.
“While our results for SCA burden are consistent with the published literature, the findings related to age, comorbidities, and noncoronary cardiac risk factors are new and likely warrant urgent attention. SCA occurs at a significantly younger age in blacks, with a higher prevalence of clinical risk factors beyond previously documented coronary disease,” the authors wrote.
Read the full article here: Circulation 2015 (doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.015673)