Following the diagnosis of heart failure (HF) in US men and women, there were significant racial/ethnic differences in trajectories of hospitalization, including disparities by place of residence, a recent study found. Data from a nationally representative prospective cohort of US men and women aged ≥45 years were used to examined the number of hospitalizations reported every 24 months. 3,011 participants who were non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic with a reported diagnosis of HF were followed from 1998 to 2014. Researchers found:

• Following HF diagnosis, an average of 2.36 hospitalizations within 24 months decreased by 0.35 every 24 months and subsequently increased by 0.03 thereafter.
• Among men, there were no racial/ethnic differences reported at diagnosis; however, Hispanic men had significant declines in hospitalizations after diagnosis followed by a large increase in hospitalizations at later stages of disease.
• Among women, hospitalizations were consistently high following HF diagnosis and black women had significantly more hospitalizations throughout the follow-up period than white women.
• Racial/ethnic disparities varied by geography, even after adjustments for multiple risk factors.