White people from high-income groups live better heart-healthy lives than Asians, Black and Hispanic patients from similar income levels.
That’s the conclusion of a study from Ohio State University published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
All ethnicities seem to benefit from better social-economic status, but Whites benefitted the most as indicated by higher average Life’s Essential 8 scores on a 0-100 scale, the study found.
“So for instance, there was a 15-point improvement for college education versus high school education or less in non-Hispanic white Americans and only a 10-point improvement in non-Hispanic Black Americans,” Dr. Joshua Joseph said to NBC4. “We were surprised by these findings. We felt that it would be equivalent across racial and ethnic groups.”
Researchers believe efforts to prevent heart disease need to go beyond eliminating economic inequalities but also must reduce stress associated with mistrust of the doctor and eliminate unequal access to care and wealth.
Dicardiology reports the next step in the study is to understand how changes of socioeconomic status over time might drive changes in cardiovascular health.
“We also would like to understand what some of the factors are that are driving differential attainment of Life’s Essential 8 at higher and lower levels of socioeconomic status since these factors will be critical to address through interventions,” he said.
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