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Published on: June 10, 2025

Survival rates are similar between African American and white patients with heart failure

Stephanie H Dunlap1, Sirisha Mallemala, Carla A Sueta

  • 1Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA.

American Heart Journal
|August 2, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Race does not impact heart failure survival. This study found similar survival rates for African American and white patients with symptomatic heart failure, regardless of disease cause or adjusted factors.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Health Disparities
  • Clinical Research

Background:

  • Heart failure clinical characteristics differ between African American and white patients, potentially due to underlying pathobiology.
  • Previous research suggests race may influence heart failure outcomes.
  • This study investigates the impact of race on heart failure patient survival.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that race influences survival in patients with heart failure.
  • To compare survival rates between African American and white patients diagnosed with heart failure.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of data from 853 patients with symptomatic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.
  • Inclusion of patients from the University of North Carolina Heart Failure Database.
  • Vital status data collected over a mean follow-up of 3.8 years.

Main Results:

  • Unadjusted analysis showed no significant difference in survival rates between African American and white patients.
  • Adjusted analysis, accounting for prognostic factors, also revealed no difference in survival.
  • Specific analysis for heart failure due to ischemic heart disease showed no significant racial disparity in mortality.

Conclusions:

  • African American and white patients with symptomatic heart failure exhibit similar survival rates.
  • Race does not appear to be an independent predictor of survival in this heart failure cohort.
  • Findings suggest that other factors may be more critical in determining heart failure prognosis across racial groups.
Abstract

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