Black people in rural areas continue to experience health disparities

Numerous healthcare-related inequities persist among different racial groups. For example, research has shown that Black people experience lower life expectancy, have higher rates of high blood pressure, and receive fewer flu vaccinations than white people.

Structural inequities in healthcare may have a more significant effect on Black people living in rural locations than those living in urban areas, where healthcare may be more accessible.

Health inequities affect all of us differently. Visit our dedicated hub for an in-depth look at social disparities in health and what we can do to correct them.

To investigate rural and urban trends in health disparities and determine whether the gaps between racial groups are closing, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Specifically, they used the CDC WONDER databases to compare annual mortality rates between Black adults and white adults.

Their research letter appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Mortality rates show ongoing inequities

The investigators looked at age-adjusted mortality rates between 1999 and 2018 in rural and urban areas for both Black and white people aged 25 years and older. They examined the death rates associated with four health conditions: heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke.

Over the 20-year timeframe, the researchers found:

• Black adults had consistently higher death rates from all four conditions in both rural and urban areas than white adults.
• The highest mortality rates from each health condition occurred in Black adults residing in rural areas.
• Mortality rates from diabetes and high blood pressure complications were nearly two and three times higher, respectively, in Black adults than in white adults.
• For diabetes and high blood pressure, the mortality rate gap between white adults and Black adults narrowed over the past 2 decades in urban areas. This also occurred in rural locations but to a lesser extent.
• For heart disease, the mortality rate gap between the two racial groups narrowed at a similar rate in rural and urban areas, whereas for deaths due to stroke, the gap narrowed more rapidly in rural areas. 

“The persistent racial disparities for diabetes and high blood pressure-related mortality in rural areas may reflect structural inequities that impede access to primary, preventive, and specialist care for rural Black adults.”

– Rahul Aggarwal, M.D., a clinical fellow in the Department of Medicine at BIDMC

Aggarwal also says that the heart disease and stroke mortality gap between Black and white adults may have narrowed in rural areas because of several factors.

These include improvements in emergency services, expansion of referral networks, and the creation of more healthcare facilities specific to stroke and heart care in rural locations.

The reduced length in time from diagnosis to treatment is another factor that the researcher mentions.