Addressing Social Determinants Reduce Cardiovascular Mortality

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately half of persons in the United States with uncontrolled hypertension have a blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or above. Males are disproportionately affected by hypertension, particularly Black males when compared to white men. According to a new study published in Hypertension, social determinants such as low education, low income, living in an area with a shortage of health professionals, living in a disadvantaged neighborhood, and living in a high-poverty ZIP code all contribute to an increased likelihood of uncontrolled BP in Black adults compared to white adults.

“This is an important finding because determining the contribution of social determinants of health impacting Black adults with uncontrolled blood pressure can inform interventions to improve BP control and reduce cardiovascular disease,” said Philip Akinyelure, M.D., postdoctoral student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology and the principal investigator of the study.

According to Akinyelure, these actions will not only prevent uncontrolled blood pressure in the Black population, but will also help to reduce the estimated 8,000 extra cardiovascular disease deaths among Black adults each year, as the two diseases are intimately linked.

“Policies that dismantle systemic racism and address social determinants of health at the federal, state and local levels are needed,” Akinyelure said. “Widespread implementation of social interventions that have shown promising results at improving controlled blood pressure among Black adults could decrease disparities. We would like to see improvement in the collection of data on social determinants of health in clinics and in population-based studies. Also, clinicians should do more diligence to collect and assess the social determinants of health of patients and link socially disadvantaged patients to available resources in the community.”

The researchers analyzed data from REGARDS, a National Institutes of Health-sponsored ongoing national cohort study. The study’s purpose is to figure out why Southerners and Black Americans have greater risks of stroke and other brain-related disorders.

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