Rates of avoidable deaths from cardiovascular disease are down significantly by race/ethnicity since 2001, but African Americans are still affected disproportionately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
There were an estimated 200,070 avoidable deaths from heart disease, stroke, and hypertensive disease in 2010, compared with 227,961 deaths in 2001, the CDC said (MMWR 2013 Sept. 3 [early release];62).
Avoidable deaths among blacks dropped from 154 per 100,000 population in 2001 to 107 in 2010, which was almost twice as high as the rate of 57.8 per 100,000 for whites in 2010. American Indians/Alaska Natives had the second-highest rate of avoidable deaths in 2010 (66.9), followed by whites, Hispanics (45.4), and Asians/Pacific Islanders (33.6), according to the report.
Mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System were used in the analysis. A death was considered avoidable if it resulted from an underlying cause of ischemic or chronic rheumatic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, or hypertensive disease and occurred in a person under age 75.
