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News
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the U.S. has been declining, but the pace has slowed dramatically since 2011 — and racial disparities remain stark. Black Americans continue to bear the highest CVD death burden, followed by Indigenous, white, Hispanic, and Asian populations. A new JACC study maps county-level data to show exactly where the gaps are widest.
Progress on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in the U.S. is real, but it's losing steam — and it's not being shared equally. A new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology analyzed death certificate data across more than 3,000 counties from 2000 to 2019, revealing that annual CVD death declines slowed from 3.2% (2000–2011) to just 0.8% (2011–2019).
Racial disparities have persisted throughout the entire two-decade period. Black Americans had the highest CVD mortality rate in 2019, and counties in the Deep South, Appalachia, and parts of the Southwest showed the most concentrated burden across multiple racial groups.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: These county-level findings give clinicians and health systems a roadmap for targeted intervention. As NHLBI's Dr. George Mensah noted, aligning prevention strategies with local epidemiology — and the populations carrying the greatest burden — is key to making a lasting dent in cardiovascular disparities.
