Community-Level Economic Distress, Race, and Risk of Adverse Outcomes after Heart Failure Hospitalization among Medicare Beneficiaries

Amgad Mentias, Milind Y. Desai, Mary S. Vaughan-Sarrazin, Shreya Rao, Alanna A. Morris, Jennifer L. Hall, Venu Menon, Jason Hockenberry, Mario Sims, Gregg C. Fonarow, Saket Girotra, Ambarish Pandey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Socioeconomic disadvantage is a strong determinant of adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure. However, the contribution of community-level economic distress to adverse outcomes in heart failure may differ across races and ethnicities. Methods: Patients of self-reported Black, White, and Hispanic race and ethnicity hospitalized with heart failure between 2014 and 2019 were identified from the Medicare MedPAR Part A 100% Files. We used patient-level residential ZIP code to quantify community-level economic distress on the basis of the Distressed Community Index (quintile 5: economically distressed versus quintiles 1-4: nondistressed). The association of continuous and categorical measures (distressed versus nondistressed) of Distressed Community Index with 30-day, 6-month, and 1-year risk-adjusted mortality, readmission burden, and home time were assessed separately by race and ethnicity groups. Results: The study included 1 611 586 White (13.2% economically distressed), 205 840 Black (50.6% economically distressed), and 89 199 Hispanic (27.3% economically distressed) patients. Among White patients, living in economically distressed (versus nondistressed) communities was significantly associated with a higher risk of adverse outcomes at 30-day and 1-year follow-up. Among Black and Hispanic patients, the risk of adverse outcomes associated with living in distressed versus nondistressed communities was not meaningfully different at 30 days and became more prominent by 1-year follow-up. Similarly, in the restricted cubic spline analysis, a stronger and more graded association was observed between Distressed Community Index score and risk of adverse outcomes in White patients (versus Black and Hispanic patients). Furthermore, the association between community-level economic distress and risk of adverse outcomes for Black patients differed in rural versus urban areas. Living in economically distressed communities was significantly associated with a higher risk of mortality and lower home time at 1-year follow-up in rural areas but not urban areas. Conclusions: The association between community-level economic distress and risk of adverse outcomes differs across race and ethnic groups, with a stronger association noted in White patients at short- and long-term follow-up. Among Black patients, the association of community-level economic distress with a higher risk of adverse outcomes is less evident in the short term and is more robust and significant in the long-term follow-up and rural areas.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)110-121
Number of pages12
JournalCirculation
Volume145
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 11 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • heart failure
  • mortality
  • racial disparity
  • readmission

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Physiology (medical)

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