Did the 1999 legislation to reduce racial/ethnic health disparities improve health indicators and reduce disparities among Black and Hispanic middle-aged and older adults compared to White adults?
Despite legislation aimed at reducing health disparities, racial and ethnic gaps in major cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes and hypertension have worsened over the past two decades in the US.
Importance: Adults who belong to racial/ethnic minority groups are more likely than White adults to receive a diagnosis of chronic disease in the United States. Objective: To evaluate which health indicators have improved or become worse among Black and Hispanic middle-aged and older adults since the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act of 2000. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this repeated cross-sectional study, a total of 4 856 326 records were extracted from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from January 1999 through December 2018 of persons who self-identified as Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic (non-White), or White and who were 45 years or older. Exposure: The 1999 legislation to reduce racial/ethnic health disparities. Main Outcomes and Measures: Poor health indicators and disparities including major chronic diseases, physical inactivity, uninsured status, and overall poor health. Results: Among the 4 856 326 participants (2 958 041 60.9% women; mean SD age, 60.4 11.8 years), Black adults showed an overall decrease indicating improvement in uninsured status (β = -0.40%; P < .001) and physical inactivity (β = -0.29%; P < .001), while they showed an overall increase indicating deterioration in hypertension (β = 0.88%; P < .001), diabetes (β = 0.52%; P < .001), asthma (β = 0.25%; P < .001), and stroke (β = 0.15%; P < .001) during the last 20 years. The Black-White gap (ie, the change in β between groups) showed improvement (2 trend lines converging) in uninsured status (-0.20%; P < .001) and physical inactivity (-0.29%; P < .001), while the Black-White gap worsened (2 trend lines diverging) in diabetes (0.14%; P < .001), hypertension (0.15%; P < .001), coronary heart disease (0.07%; P < .001), stroke (0.07%; P < .001), and asthma (0.11%; P < .001). Hispanic adults showed improvement in physical inactivity (β = -0.28%; P = .02) and perceived poor health (β = -0.22%; P = .001), while they showed overall deterioration in hypertension (β = 0.79%; P < .001) and diabetes (β = 0.50%; P < .001). The Hispanic-White gap showed improvement in coronary heart disease (-0.15%; P < .001), stroke (-0.04%; P < .001), kidney disease (-0.06%; P < .001), asthma (-0.06%; P = .02), arthritis (-0.26%; P < .001), depression (-0.23%; P < .001), and physical inactivity (-0.10%; P = .001), while the Hispanic-White gap worsened in diabetes (0.15%; P < .001), hypertension (0.05%; P = .03), and uninsured status (0.09%; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: This study suggests that Black-White disparities increased in diabetes, hypertension, and asthma, while Hispanic-White disparities remained in diabetes, hypertension, and uninsured status.
Odlum et al. (2020) studied this question.