Health Disparities Among Minority Men

According to the 2003 report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies titled "Unequal Treatment":

• Racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive a lower quality of healthcare than non-minorities even when access-related factors, such as patient's insurance status and income are controlled.
• Stereotyping, biases, and uncertainty on the part of healthcare providers can all contribute to unequal treatment during the clinical encounter with a minority patient.

According to the CDC National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 50, Number 15 September 16, 2002:

• Heart disease and cancer continued to be the leading and second causes of death for 1999 and 2000, accounting for over one-half of all deaths when combined.
• Life expectancy at birth for white females is 80.0 years, black females 74.9 years, white males 74.8 years, and black males 68.2 years.
• In the leading causes of death, rates for the black population compared with the white population were at least 1.5 times greater for five of the leading causes of death (diseases of the heart, malignant neoplasm's, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic pulmonary diseases and allied conditions, and accidents and adverse effects).
• The age-adjusted rate for drug induced mortality for the black population was 1.3 times the rate for the white population.
• The age-adjusted alcohol-induced mortality for males was 3.5 times the rate for females.
• For all age groups 15 years and over, death rates for married persons were much lower than those for never married persons. Those never married had the highest age-adjusted death rate, followed by divorced, widowed, and married persons. Married and widowed black persons had significantly higher age-adjusted death rates than white persons, with rates at 29.6% and 18.4% respectively. Statistically insignificant differences exist between black and white never-married and divorced persons.
• Mortality is inversely associated with educational attainment. The average risk of death decreases markedly with increasing educational attainment. The age-adjusted death rate for those with less than 12 years was 22% higher than those with 12 years, and 2.7 times the rate for those with 13 years of education or more.

According to the October 2002 Kaiser Family Foundation and American College of Cardiology Foundation "Racial/Ethnic Differences In Cardiac Care: The Weight Of The Evidence" report:

• African Americans are less likely than white Americans to receive diagnostic procedures, revascularization procedures, and thrombolytic therapy even when patient characteristics are similar.