New research has discovered racial disparities in the provision of treatment for advanced heart failure. The research, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health, found that Black individuals received life-changing treatments almost one-half as often as their White counterparts.
Previous research has demonstrated that Black individuals are two times more likely to succumb to heart failure. This is in addition to having a higher risk for experiencing heart failure.
For their research, investigators followed 377 patients who received the treatment at a selected center out of the 21 centers in America. White adults made up 277 of the total number of patients.
The investigators controlled for various factors, including severity of the illness, quality of life, conditions in the environment where individuals live that could impact their health outcomes and some social determinants of health, then carried out an analysis.
While the investigators did not observe any link between rates of death and patients’ race, they did discover that in comparison to the 11 Black individuals who received a ventricular assist device or a heart transplant, 62 of the White patients received these heart failure treatments, which could improve the quality of life of a patient. A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a device that helps pump blood for an individual’s heart.
During the study, 36 White individuals and 18 Black adults succumbed to the illness.
The researchers also discovered that while treatment preferences between individuals from both groups were similar, being Black was linked to a more than 50% reduced rate for receiving a heart transplant or a ventricular assist device.
In their report, the investigators stated that their discoveries increased their understanding of disparities in heart-failure treatment by demonstrating that the treatment preferences of patients didn’t drive inequity. They added that the disparity in treatment that White and Black patients received suggested unconscious bias, as well as overt discrimination and racism among healthcare providers.
The first author of the study, Thomas M. Cascino, stated that the evidence proposed that providers of heart-failure treatments were maintaining inequities. Cascino stated that as healthcare providers and physicians, recognizing disparities wasn’t enough and equitable change needed to be created.
The investigators recommended that healthcare professionals be trained to help them become aware of their biases. This is in addition to emphasizing the importance of increasing equity in clinical decision-making for individuals suffering from heart failure.
The researchers reported their findings in “Circulation: Heart Failure.”
Early diagnosis is a big factor in getting timely treatment for heart failure, and entities like Odyssey Health Inc. (OTC: ODYY) have stepped up to the plate in the search for better diagnostics tools which will enable the patients in need to be treated promptly.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Odyssey Health Inc. (OTC: ODYY) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ODYY
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