Blacks have more preventable hypertension hospitalizations

(HealthDay)—Blacks have higher rates of preventable hypertension hospitalizations than whites, according to a study published online Feb. 28 in Preventing Chronic Disease.

Julie C. Will, Ph.D., and Paula W. Yoon, Sc.D., both from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, analyzed data from the 1995 to 2010 National Hospital Discharge Survey. Estimates of rates of preventable hypertension hospitalizations were calculated using data specifications published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and census data.

The researchers found that for each time period and among both sexes and all age groups, blacks had higher crude rates of preventable hypertension hospitalizations than whites. These results were confirmed with age- and sex-standardized rates (from 2007 to 2010, for example, blacks at 334 per 100,000 hospitalizations and whites at 97.4 per 100,000 hospitalizations). Rates were generally steady over time, with the exception of white women 65 years or older, who showed increasing rates.

"Using national data, we confirmed higher rates of preventable hypertension hospitalizations for blacks, showing little improvement in disparities over time," the authors write.