Geographic variation in the racial and ethnic disparity in heat-related death

Non-Hispanic African Americans were reported to have a higher rate of heat-related death than non-Hispanic whites.¹ It is not known whether this racial disparity varies among US regions.

Multiple cause of death data were used to tabulate heat-related death records which listed ICD-10 codes X30 (exposure to excessive natural heat), P81.0 (environmental hyperthermia of newborn), or T67 (effects of heat and light) as the underlying cause of death, or as one of the contributing causes. Using the US 2000 standard population, age adjusted death rates (AADR) were computed for non-Hispanic blacks, non-Hispanic whites, and Hispanics by census division.

In the US from 1999-2020, there were 15,869 deaths which were heat-related. AADR were higher in non-Hispanic blacks than in non-Hispanic whites in each division. In non-Hispanics, the ratio of AADR in blacks to that in whites was about 4.0 in the Middle Atlantic and West North Central Divisions. The lowest ratios were in the Pacific Division (about 1.5) and West South Central Division (about 2.0).

Racial disparities varied greatly by region. Reasons for this marked variation are unclear but worthy of investigation. Geographic variation in disparities in non-fatal heat-related diseases should also be studied.