Racial Disparities in Hypertension-Related Hospital Mortality Among Adults in the United States

Background and objectives Hypertension has been known to be a significant contributor to hospital admissions and, consequently, high mortality rates across the globe and in the United States. Racial disparities, which entail the unequal treatment or outcomes experienced by different racial or ethnic groups, influenced by systemic inequality and/or discrimination, have been shown by other studies to have an impact on hypertension-related in-hospital mortality. These disparities may have influenced several factors that impact equal rights and access to healthcare across racial groups. For example, the poor implementation of health policies, poor access to care, and poor socioeconomic factors that highlight the presence of racial disparities may have a huge impact on hypertensive care. This research paper builds on existing knowledge and aims to further explore the legitimacy of the claim that racial disparities exist among different racial groups, particularly among adults in the United States, and that it plays a major role in causing in-hospital mortality. The data used for this study were drawn from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's (HCUP) National Inpatient Sample (NIS) between 2016 and 2022. Methods Using the NIS database, we identified 360,642 individuals who were aged 18 years and older and were hospitalized for hypertension-related issues in a hospital within the United States. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between race and in-hospital mortality. Potential confounders were adjusted for and included age, sex, location of hospital, insurance payer, and diabetes (as a comorbidity). Results In our study sample, 241,991 (67%) of the patients were White, 72,778 (20%) were Black, 29,464 (8%) were Hispanic, 6,564 (2%) were Asian/Pacific Islanders, 1,623 (1%) were Native Americans, and 8,187 (2%) were individuals from other races that were not included in the races mentioned above. For this study population, significant racial disparities in hypertensive in-hospital mortality were observed, with Black patients experiencing higher mortality rates (55%) compared to their White counterparts (OR=1.55, 95% CI=1.42,1.69, p<0.0001). Conclusion The findings of this study provide further evidence of racial disparities in hypertension-related hospital mortality, with Black individuals showing significantly higher odds of hospital mortality from hypertension. This study highlights the need to combat health inequities in hypertension outcomes through a targeted approach, which could include enhancing access to high-quality hypertensive care, provision of culturally sensitive care, and promotion of positive policies that can enhance these outcomes.