Racial, Ethnic Disparities Seen in Management of NSTEMI

MONDAY, Aug. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In 2017 to 2019, Black and Hispanic individuals were less likely than Whites to undergo coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, according to a study published in the June 21 issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Tarry Tertulien, M.D., from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and colleagues identified individuals presenting with incident, type I non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction from 2017 to 2019. Participants were categorized according to race and ethnicity. The rates of coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention were examined by race and ethnicity and income categories.

A total of 87,094 individuals were identified: 2.6, 13.4, 11.2, and 72.7 percent Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White, respectively. The researchers found that compared with Whites, individuals of Black race were less likely to undergo coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention (odds ratios, 0.93 and 0.86, respectively). Hispanic individuals were also less likely than Whites to undergo coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention (odds ratios, 0.88 and 0.85, respectively). Differences in the receipt of coronary angiography across all racial and ethnic groups were attenuated by higher annual household income.

"An American Heart Association presidential advisory and the Center for Disease Control's Healthy People 2030 initiative have asserted that addressing racial disparities is a priority, yet there is still more work to be done regarding the persistent racial and ethnic disparities in the management of heart disease," Tertulien said in a statement.

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