Heart Disease and African Americans

What is Heart Disease?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The term “heart disease” refers to several types of heart conditions. In the United States, the most common type of heart disease is coronary artery disease (CAD), which can lead to heart attack. You can reduce your risk for heart disease through lifestyle changes and, in some cases, medicine.

How Does Heart Disease Affect African American Populations?

In 2019, African Americans were 30 percent more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic whites.
Although African American adults are 30 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, they are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to have their blood pressure under control.
African American women are nearly 50 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, as compared to non-Hispanic white women.

Diagnosed Cases of Coronary Heart Disease

Age-adjusted percentage of coronary heart disease among persons 18 years of age and over, 2021

Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
5.2	5.6	0.93

Source: CDC 2022. National Center for Health Statistics. Percentage of coronary heart disease for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2019—2021. National Health Interview Survey. Generated interactively: Jan 04, 2023.
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NHISDataQueryTool/SHS_adult/index.html

Death Rate

Age-adjusted heart disease death rates per 100,000 (2019)

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	267.5	210.7	1.3
Women	165.0	129.6	1.3
Total	208.6	166.4	1.3

Source: CDC 2022. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 70, No. 8. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-08-508.pdf

Hypertension/High Blood Pressure

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2017-2018

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	57.2	50.2	1.1
Women	56.7	36.7	1.5
Total	57.1	43.6	1.3

Source: CDC 2022. Hypertension Prevalence and Control Among Adults: United States, 2017–2018. NCHS Data Brief, No. 364. Figure 4.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db364-h.pdf [PDF | 398.15 KB]

Percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who have high blood pressure, 2021

Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
35.2	28.3	1.2

Source: CDC 2022. National Center for Health Statistics. Percentage of hypertension for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2019—2021. National Health Interview Survey. Generated interactively: Jan 04, 2023.
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NHISDataQueryTool/SHS_adult/index.html

Percentage of adults aged 18 and over with hypertension whose blood pressure is under control, 2015-2016

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	40.1	47.7	0.8
Women	48.5	57.1	0.8
Total	44.6	50.8	0.9

Source: CDC 2022. Hypertension Prevalence and Control Among Adults: United States, 2015–2016. NCHS Data Brief, No. 289. Figure 4.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db289.pdf [PDF | 361 KB]

Source: CDC 2022. Prevent High Blood Pressure. https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/prevent.htm

High Cholesterol

Age-adjusted percentage of persons 20 years of age and over who have high cholesterol, 2015-2018

	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	22.4	27.0	0.8
Women	21.8	23.1	0.9
Total	22.2	25.0	0.9

Source: CDC 2022. Health United States, 2019. Table 23. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus19-508.pdf

Percentage of adults who received a blood cholesterol measurement in the last 5 years, 2017

Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
90.1	87.3	1.0

Source: National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query. http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query [Accessed 11/10/2022]

Cigarette Smoking

Percentage of persons 18 years of age and over who are current cigarette smoker, 2020

Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
14.4	13.3	1.1

Source: CDC 2022. Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm

Percentage of current smokers age 18 and over who reported receiving advice from a health professional to quit smoking, 2020

Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
51.3	49.8	1.03

Source: National Healthcare Quality Report. http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov/inhqrdr/data/query

Risk Factors

There are several risk factors related to heart disease. Some of these risk factors are:

Diabetes - See Obesity and African Americans
Obesity and Overweight - See Obesity and African Americans
Hypertension - See Heart Disease and African Americans
High Cholesterol - See Heart Disease and African Americans
Cigarette Smoking - See Heart Disease and African Americans

Source: CDC 2022. Know Your Risk for Heart Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/risk_factors.htm

Prevent Heart Disease

There are things that you can do to prevent heart disease:

Nutrition: Eat healthy diet (increase fresh fruits and vegetables and lower salt intake)
Weight: Maintain a healthy weight
Exercise: Be physically active (seek advice from your doctor)
Smoking: Do not smoke
Alcohol: Limit alcohol intake

Source: CDC 2022. Prevent Heart Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/prevention.htm

Prevent and Manage Blood Pressure

There are things that you can do to prevent and manage your blood pressure: