8 Key Factors Are Shortening the Lives of Black Americans

By Cara Murez, HealthDay News

Black Americans face a greater risk of early death than white people do, and now a new study points to the reasons why.

Known as the social determinants of health, these eight factors are critical for health and well-being.

The reason that Black adults in the United States have a 59% higher risk of premature death than white adults can be linked to disparities in employment, income, food security, education level, access to health care, quality health insurance, home ownership and marital status, according to the new report.

For the study, the researchers from Tulane University in New Orleans used the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to determine disease prevalence and risks across the country. They then modeled the impact of each of these eight factors on a person’s life expectancy. The disparity in deaths was at zero when accounting for all social determinants.

“It totally disappeared,” said lead study author Joshua Bundy, an epidemiologist at Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. “There’s no difference between Black and white premature mortality rates after accounting for these social determinants.”

Education, income and employment status explained most, but not all, of the mortality gap.

“This is the first time that anyone completely explained the differences,” Bundy said in a university news release. “We didn’t expect that, and we were excited about that finding because it suggests social determinants should be the primary targets for eliminating health disparities.”

Socioeconomic factors accounted for about 50% of the difference in deaths between Black and white people in the study.

The other approximately 50% was explained by marital status, food security and whether someone has public or private health insurance. These can indicate a person’s social support network, stability or job quality, the study authors noted.

Read more about the social determinants of health in the original article.

Learn more about racial health disparities in this article about ‘Weathering.’

Find more Breaking News here.