Are rural populations at increased risk of heart failure? Yes, and for Black men it's worse. "Adults living in rural areas of the United States have a 19% higher risk of developing heart failure compared to their urban counterparts, and Black men living in rural areas have an especially higher risk – 34%, according to a large observational study supported by the National Institutes of Health," the NIH reports. "Even after adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors and socioeconomic status."
"We did not expect to find a difference of this magnitude in heart failure among rural communities compared to urban communities, especially among rural-dwelling Black men," said Dr. Véronique L. Roger, the study’s corresponding author and a senior investigator. "This study makes it clear that we need tools or interventions specifically designed to prevent heart failure in rural populations, particularly among Black men living in these areas." Roger is in NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Study co-author Sarah Turecamo, a fourth-year medical student at New York University Grossman School of Medicine agreed, saying, “It is much easier to prevent heart failure than to reduce its mortality once you have it."
The release outlines broader results: "The study showed white women living in rural areas had a 22%
increased risk of heart failure compared to white women in urban areas,
and Black women had an 18% higher risk compared to Black women in urban
areas. No association was found between rural living and heart failure
risk among white men. . . . . Roger, who is also a practicing cardiologist, noted one of the biggest
contributors to heart failure is hypertension, or high blood pressure,
which Black men experience at disproportionately high levels."
The study, "Rurality and heart failure: The Southern Community Cohort Study," was published in JAMA Cardiology, a publication of the American Medical Association.
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