Disparities in Social Vulnerability and Premature Mortality among Decedents with Hepatitis B, United States,...

Current US hepatitis B mortality rates remain three times higher than the national target. Mortality reduction will depend on addressing hepatitis B disparities influenced by social determinants of health.

This study aims to describe characteristics of hepatitis B-listed decedents, which included US birthplace status and county social vulnerability attributes and quantify premature mortality.

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 17,483 hepatitis B-listed decedents using the 2010-2019 US Multiple-Cause-of-Death data merged with the county-level Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Outcomes included the distribution of decedents according to US birthplace status and residence in higher versus lower death burden counties by sociodemographic characteristics, years of potential life lost (YPLL), and SVI quartiles.

Most hepatitis B-listed decedents were US-born, male, and born during 1945-1965. Median YPLL was 17.2; 90.0% died prematurely. US-born decedents were more frequently White, non-college graduates, unmarried, and had resided in a county with < 500,000 people; non-US-born decedents were more frequently Asian/Pacific Islander, college graduates, married, and had resided in a county with ≥ 1 million people. Higher death burden (≥ 20) counties were principally located in coastal states. US-born decedents more frequently resided in counties in the highest SVI quartile for "Household Characteristics" and "Uninsured," whereas non-US-born decedents more frequently resided in counties in the highest SVI quartile for "Racial/Ethnic Minority Status" and "Housing Type/Transportation."

This analysis found substantial premature hepatitis B mortality and residence in counties ranked high in social vulnerability. Successful interventions should be tailored to disproportionately affected populations and the social vulnerability features of their geographic areas.