Racism as a Leading Cause of Death: Measuring Excess Deaths in the US

Abstract

Background: Excess death for Black people compared with White people is a measure of health equity. We sought to determine the excess deaths under the age of 65 (<65) for Black people in the United States (US) over the most recent 20-year period. We also compared the excess deaths for Black people with a cause of death that is traditionally reported. Methods: We used the Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2019 dataset from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) WONDER to report age-adjusted mortality rates among non-Hispanic Black (Black) and non-Hispanic White (White) people and to calculate annual age-adjusted <65 excess deaths for Black people from 1999-2019. We measured the difference in mortality rates between Black and White people and the 20-year and 5-year trends using linear regression. We compared age-adjusted <65 excess deaths for Black people to the primary causes of death among <65 Black people in the US. Results: From 1999 to 2019, the age-adjusted mortality rate for Black men was 1,186 per 100,000 and for White men was 921 per 100,000, for a difference of 265 per 100,000. The age-adjusted mortality rate for Black women was 802 per 100,000 and for White women was 664 per 100,000, for a difference of 138 per 100,000. While the gap for men and women is less than it was in 1999, it has been increasing among men since 2014. These differences have led to many Black people dying before age 65. In 1999, there were 22,945 age-adjusted excess deaths among Black women <65 and in 2019 there were 14,444, deaths that would not have occurred had their risks been the same as those of White women. Among Black men, 38,882 age-adjusted excess <65 deaths occurred in 1999 and 25,850 in 2019. When compared to the top 5 causes of deaths among <65 Black people, death related to disparities would be the highest mortality rate among both <65 Black men and women. Comment: In the US, over the recent 20-year period, disparities in mortality rates resulted in between 61,827 excess deaths in 1999 and 40,294 excess deaths in 2019 among <65 Black people. The race-based disparity in the US was the leading cause of death among <65 Black people. Societal commitment and investment in eliminating disparities should be on par with those focused on other leading causes of death such as heart disease and cancer.

Racism as a leading cause of death in the United States

“…The excess deaths under age 65 by race can be put in context by comparing the toll with causes of death by each disease category. In sheer numbers, the excess deaths associated with Black race, that is the cumulative excess across each cause of death, are higher than the reported leading causes of death among Black men and women under age 65, as indicated in a recently posted preprint 78. The age-adjusted excess death rate was higher than the other causes each year from 1999 to 2019 among Black men and women under age 65.…”

A logic framework for addressing medical racism in academic medicine: an analysis of qualitative data

“…While anti-racism may seem to have recently emerged in commentaries and in institutional statements [11], regular calls [3,4,12] for physicians to address racism have been made since at least the early 1990s [13]. Despite this, racism in the medical field has persisted and continues to be misunderstood [6] or denied [14], causing harm to physicians [15,16] and patients [8,17].…”

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access to Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery

“…Race-based disparity may be the most common cause of death among Black men and women under age 65 years of age. 1,2 Cardiovascular disease accounts for more than one-third of the mortality difference between Black and White individuals in the US 3 and remains the number 1 cause of death in the US. 4 Cardiovascular procedures are the most common inpatient surgical procedures in adults aged 45 to 64 years and 75 years and older in the US.…”